The Painting and The Knight
by AnnDsj
Summary: "If we can't attack Kingdom of Sicily, we can just marry King Charles' daughter Highness, princess Swan". The great King Edward of Holy Roman Empire would do anything to lord over Kingdom of Sicily, and his council's idea seemed brilliant.ExB;OOC
1. The letter

The painting and the knight

A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment.

JANE AUSTEN, Pride and Prejudice

Summary:

This story takes place during the time of King's. When King's married for land, wealth and power, not out of love. During these times it was the women who suffered a great injustice. Isabella Swan was no exception, most call her _'True beauty a living Aphrodite.'_ she never saw herself this way. Her father King Charles had a vast kingdom. He was a very powerful ruler. King Edward Cullen also a powerful ruler, though his kingdom was nowhere near the size of King Charles'. King Edward seems to be ruled by greed. Greed of land and power. There are a few ways to gain a kingdom, some are dangerous and some just impossible. However there is only one honorable way._ MARRIAGE. _King Edward had to propose marriage to King Charles' daughter, Isabella.

Chapter 1

"But, Highness, we can't do that, we can't risk our army for that. King Swan's maritime army is just too strong. We are good at tactics and ground combat but our maritime army is not as strong as his." Aro, the kingdom councilman said. King Edward stood up from his throne and started to argue about what they will do to lord over King Charles' empire.

"We can't do anything but attack them." He replied calmly.

"Actually, there's one thing left my King." Emmett, the ground-war general slash King Edward's cousin said.

"Tell me." He said in a demanding hard tone.

"You can marry his daughter my King." His eyes widened, that was actually a brilliant idea.

"Hmm, marry his daughter?" He mused, as he lifted his hand towards his chin and started to think.

"Yes, Highness, if you marry her you automatically become a part of the family. I'm sure since King Charles doesn't have any son's, he will give his throne to you." Jasper, the other councilman explained.

"It's worth to try, Highness." Aro continued.

"Aro, send your people to give a marriage offer letter to King Charles. Emmett, thank you for the brilliant idea" He said smiling to Emmett as all of them nodded.

"It's my pleasure my King" Emmett replied.

_This is it, if I can marry his daughter. My empire will be the strongest and biggest empire in all of Europe. I'll make you proud father, trust me._

"Where are you going Isabella?" her father asked his dearest daughter, Princess Isabella.

BPOV

"Horse riding father" I said with a smile

"Be careful" He said nicely, smiling towards her. I nodded and then left the palace towards the stables. _Her walk to the stables was a lovely one. She finally arrived and a middle aged man welcomed her._

"Princess Isabella, horse riding today?"

"Yes Rowan, it's been a long time. I want to have a look around, bring Dane please." I asked while smiling at him, Rowan walked into the stables and brought out a gorgeous strong black mustang, My Dane.

"My Dane, oh my lovely, how are you?" I asked while running my hand around his strong neck. I climbed up Dane's side slowly then pushed off and swung my right leg over the back of the horse.

I walked around the palace area. The day was sunny and the weather was good. I closed her eyes and felt the wind cross my delicate face. Horse riding was one of my favorite things to do. Dane and I were a perfect match. We always seemed to be of the same mind. We knew each other's movements so well, it was like a dance. What seemed like only A moment later I was back at the stables. Slowly, I climbed down the horse.

"Take a good care of him, won't you Rowan?" I asked and gestured towards Dane.

"My pleasure, Princess" He bowed his head and I started my walk back to the palace. Upon entering I walked straight towards my room and greeted my personal servant, Angela.

"Angela" I said and nodded. "My Princess" Angela bowed.

"How are you this afternoon my Lady?" Angela asked as she helped me to get changed.

"Good, there's not much to tell my dear"

"Beige or blue your Grace?" Angela asked and gestured towards two gowns in her hands.

"Beige" I said while combing my wavy brunette hair that fell down my back like a waterfall. Suddenly somebody knocked on my chamber door.

"Come in" I called out. A servant named Jessica entered my chamber and bowed. I hissed at her presence.

"What is it?" I asked coldly. I stared at her through my mirror. I have been told that I was nice and wise beyond my years, however when I dislike someone I become sharp, sadistic and a little merciless. Well with Jessica, I just didn't like her or trust her. It started 2 years ago, when I caught her trying to seduce my cousin, Jacob Black.

"Dinner will start in 15 minutes, Princess." Jessica said with her head bowed.

"I see, well then, you're excused"

A moment later, I finished my bath and Angela helped me get changed. Now it was time for dinner.

Escorted by Angela and one other servant named Lydia, I walked towards the dining room. I was welcomed by my dearest father who had already sat in his special dining chair.

"My princess" He said, rising from his seat immediately. He took my hand and kissed it, just like he always does.

"Have a seat my daughter"

"Yes father" I took a seat beside my father. He broke the silence but there was something in his voice that make it shake a little.

"So how's your day my dear?"

"It's been pleasant father" I replied smiling softly. I never talk too much in front of people, if I can help it. My father shifted in his seat uncomfortably, and I realized there was something wrong with him.

"Something bothering you father?" I asked. He cleared his throat, and rose up from his seat. He retrieved letter from the table that I had not noticed before.

"May I hope, people, for your interest with my fair daughter Princess Isabella. I solicit for the honor of a private audience with her in the course of this evening?" I was just staring at my father completely confused. All of the staff and servants walked out, leaving me alone with my father.

"What is it father?"

"Isabella—" My father said as he walked towards me, he gently rubbed my right shoulder. I immediately shifted, feeling uncomfortable by my father's gesture. He had never done that kind of thing before.

"Yes father?" I asked while I stood up.

"I know you won't agree with this but-"

"Just tell me father." I said sharply.

_Charles felt her discomfort though, he knew his daughter just too well. She was sometimes sharp and forward once she felt uncomfortable._

"K-King Edward, King of Holy Roman Empire has sent an offer of marriage. An alliance between his empire and ours" But he spoke too fast, I couldn't even process his words. He was nervous and scared of my response.

_He was indeed scared of his own daughter, she was sharp, cold, strong, dominant and sometimes merciless when she started to not like something. She was also very smart, sometimes too smart for her own good. She will one day make a great Queen._

"What was that again father?"

"King Edward wants to marry you." He said and sighed. My jaw dropped.

"Oh my goodness!" I shouted then fell back to my seat. I brought my palm towards my chest because my heart was beating frantically.

"Are you sure about that father?" I asked, not looking at him.

"Yes my dearest Isabella. Yesterday, King Edward sent his people to deliver the letters, one for me and one is for you my Princess…Here, read it." I immediately looked up to see my father's face. I took a roll of paper from his hand and immediately skimmed through the letter, until my eyes found the sentences that read, "And that is why I ask you, Princess Isabella if you will do me the honor of accepting my hand in marriage?"

"And what's your answer?" I asked with my eyes still focusing on the letter

"I said….." he paused.

"Just tell me father!" I said a little louder, and lifted my head to see his face.

"Oh no, don't give me that look. You said yes didn't you? Father how could you!"

"Isabella, I'm sorry. I have done it for your own good. It's a good thing for a 21 years old Princess to be married to a strong King isn't it?" _21 indeed was a little too old of an age to be newly married at that time. I however am not like any other woman. I was not the type of Lady who fancied the thing called 'marriage'. Fortunately, my father wasn't the type of father who was really looking forward to escorting me, his only daughter down the aisle either._

"For heaven's sake! Father! It's not about my age! It's about my freedom! My life! My future!" I spoke a little too loud and rose up from my seat. I threw my napkin rudely onto the dining table, and stared into my father's eyes sternly.

"Unbelievable" I lifted my gown and left the room immediately.

**

* * *

A/N sorry for the confusion, somebody actually hacked my other account (anndsj) and changed the password (screw'em). so i decided just to publish the new version of the story in my old account here.  
**

**Sorry. Well for those who hacked my new account, may God be with you -_- eer**

**anyways, thanks for my beta Kimmie-LOVE71 and... Review!**


	2. The reason

The Painting and the knight

_I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge - myth is more potent than history - dreams are more powerful than facts - hope always triumphs over experience - laughter is the cure for grief - love is stronger than death_

_~Robert Fulghum_

Chapter 2

EPOV

"Your Highness. Archery practice today?" Gregor, one of the archery field keepers greeted me.

"Yes Gregor, please bring my special archery set, will you." _Edward's smooth velvety voice demanded Gregor. A moment later, Gregor showed up in front of his King with a beautiful strong longbow and several sharp arrows with soft feathers fletching in his hand_.

"Thank you Gregor"

"It's a pleasure my King." Gregor bowed as he took several steps back. I loaded my arrow and brought up my magnificent longbow taking aim at my target. I drew the bow back and was about to let it fly when I was interrupted by a voice.

"Your Highness" _I lowered my bow and turned toward the voice. Jasper had kneeled down in front of me_.

"Yes my dear friend? Stand up please." I said as I handed my longbow and arrow back to Gregor.

"What is it? It's something important isn't it? You would not dare to disturb my archery practice session if it was not." A silent chuckled came out from my mouth.

"King Charles has gladly accepted your proposal" I felt undeniably blissful at this, but then I remembered the very simple basic thing that I had forgot before.

"Jasper.." I called out

"Yes my King?"

"Tell me something about Princess Swan."

"I'm sorry my King, I know nothing about her." Jasper said apologetically.

"Not even one thing?" I raised an eyebrow

"There's one thing. She's young, she's about 21 years old. A little too old for an unmarried princess though, but still 8 years younger than you"

"I see, arrange everything fast Jasper, but give them a little space." My voice was cold even to my own ears. I decided to just continue my archery practice session

BPOV

"Can we do nothing to change it?" I asked to my father and all of the councilmen that were meeting in the throne hall.

"I'm sorry your Majesty, but we cannot. Once we turn down what we have already accepted, our associational relationship will be immediately broken off. They won't trust us anymore" Councilman Curtis said.

I was angry and upset, yet still confused. I was angry and upset because in no time, I will be a wife to the King of the Holy Roman Empire. I was confused because no matter how angry I was about the decision, I still put the Kingdom's importance above anything. After a moment I finally realized, that this was probably the best way.

"I see" I replied to Curtis.

"Then take care of the wedding" I said coldly and walked outside.

EPOV

"Everything's set!" Emmett shouted loudly towards the guards, cavaliers and maidens, as they replied "yes your Highness", Emmett walked towards my direction, and kneeled down.

"My King, everything's set, we may set out"

"Prepare Duke, will you Emmett?"

"But Your Highness, you're supposed to be in the horse cart"

"Not now Emmett, just prepare my Duke will you?" I said smiling thinking of riding my beloved valiant black stallion, Duke.

BPOV

I just stared blankly and emotionlessly at the window while my servants were trying to help me get change into a beautiful flowing gown. I just couldn't believe that I'm getting married soon. The whole kingdom is waiting for King Edward and his people to appear.

_Her father indeed realized something was wrong with his beloved daughter. He realized that since she finally accepted the proposal, her eyes that once were so full of life and happiness were now full of hatred and they were so cold. Her beautiful face which always showed joy and a smile was now emotionless and icy, as if she was already dead. She wore a look that he couldn't describe._

_A moment later, she was already in the library, reading a book while having a daydream session too. When she read the book, sometimes she turned her sight to the window, and stared blankly at outside._

"My dear" My father greeted me.

"You should've knocked" I muttered while my eyes were trying to focusing on the book.

"Something bothering you?" He asked as he took a seat beside me.

"Nothing is bothering me father, except the fact that you are interrupting me from reading my book" I snorted sarcastically. I could tell that my father was already frustrated and tired but I didn't expect what he said next or his tone.

"Isabella, enough!" I stared at my book for a long moment before closing it rudely with loud thump. I threw it to the floor, then stood up.

"Enough of what! Can you just please leave me alone! Can you just please understand that I am trying to have the best time with my favorite place in this palace for the LAST time!" My chest was heaving, I was shaking with anger and I was trying to hold in my tears. I was about to continue when a voice interrupted,

"Highnesses, King Edward and his people has just arrived. He is requesting your presence my King." With that my father turned his eyes to me.

_King Charles and his daughter stared into each other's eyes deeply for a moment, until Isabella broke it by looking to the outside view through the giant window._

"Tell him I will be with him momentarily, will you?"

"Yes your Highness" The guard bowed and left the room. I took a few steps closer, and hugged my father.

"Father." I whispered

"Yes my Bella?"

"Can you please tell me the real reason of why you accepting the proposal? The real reason father, I want to know the truth" I asked, I knew my father too well. My father had already taught me how to be a very strong and great Queen since I was born. There was no way he was doubting my ability to be a good Queen, so there must be another reason.

"Isabella, you know that we lost your mother when you were only 2 years old? I was her husband. I was a strong King, but I couldn't even protect my wife Isabella, your mother, the love of my life. Then what will happen to you Isabella? I, the strong King, couldn't even protect my wife. What will happen to your life when you don't even have a protector?" He said as he leaned his head on his daughter's shoulder weakly.

"Father, I know it was hard. I know that you can still feel the wound of losing her, but can you at least put a little faith in me?" I said as I hugged my father tighter and stared out the window.

"Isabella, I have faith in you. I love you. You are the love of my life, that is why I can't lose you. Your mother died for nothing Bella, and I won't let that happen to you. I believe that King Edward is capable of protecting you; he's much stronger than I was. I trust him." I sighed and leaned my head onto my father's shoulder, there was no point of arguing with him.

"I'll miss you." A tear slid down King Charles's cheek. I, however didn't let a single tear fall onto my cheek. I was just not that type of woman who cries easily. I knew, no matter how bad this decision was that there must be a couple of good thing waiting for me.

"Me too my little Belle" Both of them took a deep breath, and released each other. My father walked outside to greet our guests and I walked towards my chamber for the last time.

EPOV

"King Charles, a pleasure to meet you, your palace indeed is very pleasant." I said and bowed my head slightly.

"King Edward, a pleasure to meet you too, and thanks for the compliment. I really do take very good care of my palace"

"How's life your Highness?" I asked while we walked through the palace's garden.

"Never been better Edward." He replied.

"So.." The situation indeed was awkward, but I decided to just get to the point.

"Thanks for accepting my proposal Charles." I said.

"You're most welcome Edward. It's what is best for both of us."

"Your Majesty? I beg for forgiveness for my impudence, but I am curious about your daughter. Can you please tell me something about her? I mean like her hobbies. What are her likes and dislikes. Things of that nature. I just think that it is important to provide for her needs. For example if she likes to play piano, I'll put a piano in her chamber. I want to give her things that will make her feel more comfortable."

"Oh, that is so kind of you Edward. Well, Isabella…hmm. She loves to read and write. She is a genius violinist. She loves to go horse riding. Isabella is a great fencer and swordsman. Her accuracy in archery playing is undoubtedly perfect. Hmm, what else? I really could go on all day about her because she has a lot of hobbies. She is a little bit stubborn and dominant but she is indeed very loving, caring and great with everyone in the kingdom."

"Oh, she seems…adorable" I shrugged. Everything he told me was a bit of a surprise to find out. Isabella seems to have lots of talent. Still she held no interest for me at all. This marriage would be a lie, considering the marriage was purely for the purpose of an alliance.

"Yes she is, I've taught her how to be a great and strong Queen since she was born. I'm sure she will be the perfect partner for you Edward"

"Yes sir, Charles, I hope so."

**

* * *

A/N hey readers, so yeah, i've permanently decided that i will continue publish this story in this account. keep reading! and thanks again to my lovely beta Kimmie-LOVE71! XOXO**

**Anyway, and here is a little sneak peak of the next chapter  
**

**Edward and Bella finally meet each other. But...just wait for the next chapter will ya! :)  
**

**reviews are love!**


	3. the hatred and lust

Chapter 3

Isabella Swan POV

Two days had passed. After a restless sleep, I finally felt relieved when the bird chirping sound appeared, the long endless night finally ended. But then a thought came into my mind, I still couldn't accept the fact that in less than a week, I would be the wife of the Great King Edward of Holy Roman Empire. I knew the marriage was a lie. But still, I was just hurt, too hurt to accept the fact that I was no longer free.

I just didn't know what will happen in the future. King Edward and I were total opposites, I didn't even know if I could become adapted to his kingdom's atmosphere. Holy Roman ladies love to wear glorious gown, while I saw no importance in doing so. We, the Sicilian of Regno di Sicilia(Kingdom of Sicily), love simplicity and ellegance.

I never wore or loved the idea of wearing a glorious heavy gown; I used to wear a simple flowing gown with soft colors. And while the women in Holy Roman were taught about manners and how to be a good wife to their husband. I was taught by my father how to be a great queen, how to be a strong independent woman who can do anything by herself. He taught me how to survive on the tough land of the earth. King Edward and I were just so different.

I still haven't met my future husband yet. I always tried to avoid his presence I wasn't ready to meet him face to face. Whenever I heard his voice, I would hide or go back into my chamber. Oh that smooth deep velvety voice.

_Wait, what?_

I've actually met him once, but I didn't see his face because my back was facing him. I just didn't want to see him.

_Flashback_

_The melodious crashing of the waves__  
__As just a bit more of the shore caves.__  
__I feel the grains of sand run through my hand__  
__And know that I have just seen land._

_I wrote as I sighed, feeling contented because of the beautiful sight in front of me. Peoples gardening, children running around with their dogs, the green grass danced lightly when the wind hit them.__ I couldn't see the view clearly though because the window was not really that clean. But I was so surprised when I heard somebody suddenly clear their throat, it was positively a man._

"_Princess Swan?" The man asked, my mind felt like flying that time.__ His voice was so hard and deep yet so soft and warm, it was velvety and heavenly. But whoever the man was, I was still angry at him because he entered my chamber without even asking my permission first….or maybe, it was my dad who let him. Jesus Christ, that stupid man.__ I do really love my father, but sometimes I just couldn't stand him._

"_Who are you?" I asked coldly_

"_I beg for forgiveness my Princess" I heard some weird sounds and from the sound, I knew immediately that he was kneeling down. "I'm sorry for marching into your chamber without your permission, but your father had ordered me to. I'm King Edward of Holy Roman Empire my Princess" I was so surprised when I heard him saying his name. King Edward? Why would he be kneeling down? He must be such a gentleman who puts a very high respect on women._

_I immediately pushed out that thought out of my mind.__ I'm supposed to be angry at him, angry at him for entering my chamber without my permission and angry at him for ruining my life in just 2 days._

"_I see. What do you want?" I asked, my back still facing him while I was just staring at the view outside through the window._

"_I'm not sure highness, your father was the one who ordered me to enter your chamber, I don't even know why."_

_See? I told you, it was my father's doing._

"_If you smart, you shouldn't have listened to that old man's stupid orders." I snorted sarcastically._

"_My Princess, he is your father. __You really shouldn't talk like that about him, show him some respect."_

"_And now you're my father?" I mumbled almost silently._

"_For heaven's sake! Enough, show me some manners" His hard voice said_

"_Show you some manners? For what? Why?" I asked in an emotionless tone._

"_I am your future husband.__ I'll be your king in 7 days. __Please remember that my Princess. I will give you respect and I expect the same in return."_

"_You'll be my king in 7 days!" I couldn't hold my anger any longer. I stood up and crossed my arms over my chest, still staring at the view.__ I fought my desire to turn around to see his face so hard, but I could manage it._

"_MY KING! Let me__emphasize this for you my Lord." __I spat the words at him. My voice was becoming loud, I was so angry. "You ARE my future husband, but I am a free woman and I will bow to no man! Not to the King, not to the councilman, not even to my own father!__ I have no King except the Christ our Lord" There was a pause between my words. Somehow all of the sudden, I felt so weak and powerless._

"_I will give you respect my King, I will keep my word. But can you just please understand my circumstances? I am now in my chamber alone with a stranger who will marry me in two days. You will be ruining my life." My words were softer this time but I was still feeling emotionally angry and upset.__ My eyes suddenly became watery._

"_Princess Isabella! Please watch-" before he could even finish his word, I cut him off_

"_You are excused my King." I said coldly, but he didn't do anything._

"_You. Are. Excused. King Edward. Please step out of my chamber" I repeated and sighed frustratingly in anger while closing my eyes. I tried to fight back my tears. He muttered silently "Unbelievable" and left the room._

_Somehow, my legs felt weak and powerless. I slowly fell into the floor and stared blankly at the window. The thought hit my mind…My Kingdom…My home…My Dane…Angela, Lydia, Rowan and the other staffs…My lovely chamber…My father…and the most important thing…The memory of my mother—Her paintings. My mother loved to paint. There are hundreds of her creations in the palace. One of them was a painting of me when I was 3 months old in my father's arm, it was the most touching painting of them all and I would never see them again. I would never see anything of my home again after the wedding.__ I wasn't the type of person who could cry easily, but somehow this time, I couldn't help myself.__ I cried for hours. I cried for my parents, my home, my friends and most of all I cried for my freedom. __I would lose that, I just knew I would._

_End of flashback_

EPOV

The wedding will be held at The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (Florence Cathedral) that placed in Italy. Italy itself was the part of the Kingdom of Sicily that was ruled by King Charles. I actually kind of took a liking to Italy. The people here were nice and welcoming. The natures themselves were breath-taking. I loved the way people dressed here. Not like in my kingdom where people, well the women loved to wear anything that is glorious. In Italy, the women seemed to wear simple flowing gowns with soft colors. Their gowns almost looked like Peplos but the designs was more creative and complicated, which somehow I found amusing.

7 days…my territory will grow bigger in 7 days…To express how I was feeling, I didn't even know how to describe it. I wasn't nervous, neither excited nor upset. I felt nothing. All I could feel was curiosity, I was curious about Princess Swan. I've already met her once, but I couldn't even see her face. All I remembered about her was... well, she was tall maybe 5'6 or even more. Her wavy hair looked so silky. So silky and shinny in fact that when she stood by her window and the sun shone on it, it almost hurt my eyes. Her slim body seemed so soft but not jelly-like, all the curves were in the right places.

Her flowing dress was a bit see through, I saw a glimpse of her legs and they were beautifully long. Her body was actually beyond perfect. Her mother's gentle beauty perfectness was a legend. It appeared that Princess Swan got her mother's delicate soft body features, combined with her father's strong commanding presence. Which makes her body even more breath-taking or dare I say it? A lot more sensual than the usual feminine one. She had such a confidence about her.

I was laying on the bed resting in my chambers, going over and over what was to come. King Charles had given me an exquisite room in his palace. I was utterly grateful for his hospitality. Suddenly somebody entered my chamber and startled me from my slumber.

"Jasper…" I said as I woke up and sat on the edge of the bed. "What is it my dear friend?" I continued while rubbing my hand around my hair.

"Take a bath my dear King, King Charles asked us to come with him for a fencing session." Great, just great. It was still very early in the morning. He was a morning person then.

"Tell him to please wait and I will be there momentarily, will you Jasper?"

"Yes my King" He said as he left my chamber.

"What are you thinking so far about my palace Edward?" King Charles asked as we both walked side by side towards the fencing room escorted by guards, servants and the counsel.

"It is indeed very picturesque Charles, and not to mention amazingly artistic and beautifully done. The paintings are breath-taking." I was confused when there was an awkward silent moment between us.

"My dearest wife is the painter of those beautiful paintings Edward." He said as he smiled at the memory of his wife.

"She was indeed very talented." I replied.

"She was, yes, thank you." He said back.

After a moment we finally reached the fencing room. There were some shrill sounds from inside. The guards opened the giant door for us, "Come inside." King Charles gestured.

We walked deeper and deeper into the room. As we made our way through the room, I kept looking around at all the people practicing. The fencing room was unbelievably huge, it was bigger than one in my palace. But when I looked towards my right side, I was dumbfounded by a very incredible sight in front of me.

There was this fencer who was indeed very skillful. His steps were perfect and right in time, the speed of his moves were unbelievably fast yet accurate. The power of his hand and legs were very prominent. A moment later the amazing skillful fencer stopped noticing me watching. Slowly, he took his mask off.

I was fixed in enchantment, when I found out that it turned out that the fencer was a female. No, not just a female, but a very breath-taking Aphrodite and succubus like creature. Her beauty was delicately natural and angelic yet piercing and fiery. Her deep brown eyes were so warm and soft, but I still could see the fire in her eyes. Her hair fell erotically down her elbow after she took off her mask; it was wavy silky deep brunette, a great comparison with her pale diamond like skin. She was simply exquisite. Or even beyond it. She was probably the most breath-taking creature I've ever seen in my 29 years. I always thought that My mother and Rosalie were the most beautiful women on earth, but this girl was a thousand times more beautiful than them, no, even a million times more beautiful.

Her body was perfect, it was so slim and wasn't curvy much yet incredibly sensual. Her body was reminding me of someone though, it was almost the same with Princess Isabella's, well I just saw Princess Isabella from behind. I didn't remember much of Princess Isabella's features. I was sure that this woman wasn't Princess Isabella. Christ, this woman was inhumanly beautiful and sensual.

The moves that she made when she took off her mask and waved her hair were undeniably seducing. I couldn't help myself but stare intently at her. She turned her head to talk to someone however, her head was stuck when her eyes met mine. Christ, this woman really was something. I will ask Jasper to find some information about her; maybe I could take her to the harem when we go back to Holy Roman. I couldn't help but smirk at the thought of having her as a mistress. She definitely will be my favorite mistress.

All of the sudden, she broke the eye contact with me. Her eyes met King Charles's, they smiled to each other tenderly, what was it in their eyes? Love? Could it be that the woman was King Charles' mistress? No, it couldn't be, King Charles was still deeply in love with his dead wife. But even if that woman was King Charles' mistress, I didn't care. I will still have her as my mistress, no matter what happens.

After a moment, King Charles finally stopped playing. But I said to him that I still wanted to have another fencing session. I just hoped if I was lucky enough, the succubus Aphrodite like creature was still practicing. I walked towards the place where I saw the exquisite woman, escorted by Jasper.

Oh dear God, Jesus still loves me. The woman was still there practicing with herself, but she wasn't wearing any mask this time.

"Jasper" I called out.

"Yes my King?" He asked beside me.

"Do you know who's the beautiful lady over there?"

"I'm sorry, I still don't know. I'll find information about her soon my King"

"Good" I said silently as I walked towards her.

**

* * *

A/N what do you think? sorry for the late update, im kinda busy lately, i hope you like this chapter!**

**reviews are love!**

**REVIEW!**

**REVIEW!**


	4. the small combat

Chapter 4

BPOV

"HA!" I shouted in glory when i beat the crap out of my fencing partner slash teacher. He even fell onto the ground and i made a silent "Ouch" sound when i saw him fall. Slowly, i took off the mask and freed my hair with a wave. Christ the day was so hot.

"Sorry. Here" I said as i leaned my hand towards him, helping him stand up.

"My Princess, your skill amazed me, you're by far the most skillful fencer i've ever seen in my 38 years of life." He complimented.

"Thanks to your guidance Vincent. Not to mention my father because he was the one who forced me to become the best at everything I did. He has pushed me since i was born." I replied as we kept chatting with each other comfortably

"It appears your father needs me as his fencing partner right now. Is it okay Princess?" He asked. My father? Where is he? My eyes immediately scanned the room, but stuck with a pair of piercing diamond like emerald green eyes. I felt like passing out, those eyes were beyond heavenly.

I quickly tore my eyes away from those eyes, and was surprised when i found that the whole package was even better. The guy that i was staring at was really, really (and i mean REALLY) the most magnificent creature i've ever seen.

He was beyond perfect. His features were so valiant yet delicate, sinful yet heavenly, rugged yet beautiful. His dishelved hair seemed to be a weird color shade. It was between a red and deep brown almost bronze like, dark and glittering. His profile was even better than that of Adonis'. _Was it possible that in this century there is still a demigod? Adonis' son? Okay, something's definitely wrong with my mind..but God!_ He was even better than Adonis and Incubus. This Greek god's body was tall, around 6'4 or so, with strong erotic muscles. He was sinfully breath-taking. He wasn't wearing the all white fencing costume, instead he was wearing a simple shirt. And oh God, my legs felt like they were turning into Jelly. He noticed I was looking and he slowly smirked, oh that sinful killing crooked smile.

Jesus Christ please do not torture me. i will be the wife of King Edward soon. Yet seeing this sinfully beautiful creature made me think; _could I, no I couldn't, Damn!_ A queen can't have a mistress like a King for God's sake! I couldn't help myself I blushed. I felt ashamed of being caught staring at him. I immediately scanned the room again to search my father and i was surprised when my father was standing very close side by side with the incubus. Who was he?

I smiled at my father and he smiled back at me tenderly, after that, i continued my fencing practice alone.

I continued with my fencing practice. However I was no longer using my epee. i didn't really think that I was that good at fencing. But when i held my sword in my hand, it just felt right. My body automatically creating new fluid moves. It was like my sword became a part of me body and soul. I was so surprised when I waved my sword and somebody blocked me. i immediately lifted my head and my eyes widened when i found that the blocker was the sinful Adonis.

"Would you mind to have a round with me my Lady?" He asked tenderly, wait...I know that voice. It was very familiar, but at the same time it was softer somehow...maybe I am not remembering clearly. _I am losing my mind._

"It would be my pleasure sir" I replied. "But we shouldn't do it here, we don't have enough space for sword play. This room is especially made for fencing sir."

"Good point, shall we go outside my Lady?" He asked as i nodded. We both walked side by side. It was awkward neither one of us was talking. So i decided to break the silence.

"Just to fulfill my curiousity, what were you doing with King Charles?" I asked nervously, but i managed to keep my voice calm and even.

"Just a short fencing session. King Charles is a very good friend of mine" He said calmly.

"I see" This was too awkward. I had taken the initiative to speak first so he will have to be the one to break the silence now. Except he did not.

"Let's do it here" I said after we arrived in the garden at the center of the palace.

"Why here my Lady? Why don't we do it on the sword battle ground?" He asked and i chuckled silently.

"So innocent of you sir. I can tell from your posture and the way you hold your sword that you're an expert swordsman. I decided to do it here because, well as you can see there are trees here and the ground is not flat. It will be more challenging, don't you agree?" I explained as i removed my sword from its sheath.

"Interesting my Lady. Perhaps you could show me a thing or two." Without any warning, the Incubus suddenly waved his sword towards mine. i knew immediately that his intention was to knock my sword from my hand.

I jumped backward and blocked his sword. i remembered what my dad had always told me since i was a little _"know what's around you at all times."_ As our swords were battling, i took a short glance, and saw that there was an apple tree behind him

I spun until our backs were facing then ran as fast as i could towards the tree. "Nice trick woman" he shouted. He stood there in the same position looking towards where he thought I was.

He however wasn't looking in my direction. i ran towards him from behind and put my sword lightly on the side of his neck.

"Nice skill you have there my Lady." He said as he chuckled. All of the sudden, i didn't know how but he managed to spin away and our swords for the second time were doing battle.

"Never think that you have already won my Lady, it will make you weaker." He smirked and i groaned in response. Damn he was a thousand times stronger than me, i was so surprised when my back hit something hard. Oh crap. Now i'm going to lose. I kept trying to block his sword from touching my neck with my sword, but he was too strong. Our faces were inches apart, i could even feel his hot heavy erotic breath on my face. _See?_ He was an Incubus, he seduces woman. Somehow, i didn't know what happened but our face became closer and closer and...NO! This is your chance Bella! Escape!

I immediately pushed him as hard as i could. i knew he was weakened because of what the hell what was happening a moment ago between us. So quickly i waved my sword toward his and caught him off guard. His sword left his hand and fell hard onto the ground.

"You may be stronger, but i am faster" I said as i smirked at him.

"Highness..Your father wants a word with you" A voice suddenly appeared and i immediately turned my sight to find Angela behind me. Suddenly something or should I say someone removed my sword from my hand and dropped it to the ground. He grabbed my hand and pulled it behind my back.

"I've already told you woman, never think that you've already won. Keep your eyes open at all times." The sinful Adonis whispered at me and i immediately groaned.

"Angela, please tell him I will meet him at the dinner. Thank you, you are excused." Angela left, and i could still feel his breath on my right shoulder.

"And as for you sir...well screw you!" I groaned and left him.

"I'll see you soon beautiful!" He shouted as i gave him my middle finger. Oh Gosh, who is he? We didn't even introduce ourselves to each other. I never felt as carefree as right now though_. __Oh Christ, please don't make me see him again. I won't be attracted to him, i won't be attracted to him._ i kept repeating the mantra as i walked towards my chamber.

?POV

"Yes my King, it will be best if we do it sooner. King Edward and Princess Isabella's wedding will be held in less than a week. We couldn't attack the Kingdom of Sicily if King Charles has already given his throne to King Edward. King Edward will be too strong then." A counsel said

"My King, if we attack them after they get married, that kingdom will already be under King Edward's power. But, if we attack the kingdom before they get married, King Edward will have no power over the kingdom. All we would have to worry about then would be King Charles, he shouldn't be much of a bother. If King Edward still marry Princess Isabella after the attack, Princess Isabella will no longer be the princess of Kingdom of Sicily. We would already be Lord over, Kingdom of Sicily. This must happen before King Charles gives his throne to King Edward. His territory will be ours. Princess Isabella will have no power to fight"

"Except if they do manage some attack in the name of, Holy Roman after that. No one knows." _They were right, we have to attack the Sicilian sooner._

"May I add something Highness?" Another counsel asked as I nodded.

"My King, i've known King Edward since we were born since our father were best friend. King Edward isn't the type of man who agrees with the idea of committing to a woman under the name of marriage. I'm sure, after the attack he will no longer have the intention to marry Princess Isabella. I think; a sacred union between you and Princess Isabella will be worth it.

"I am very much agrees with Klaus my King. I've seen Princess Isabella once, and she is indeed…The most captivating beautiful creature I've ever seen in my life. She is a true beauty without equal my King" It was actually a brilliant idea.

"We attack them at the dawn. Well, we'll march into their palace and see the so called most beautiful creature, Princess Isabella for ourselves" I said to my generals and counsels.

"Everything's set my King" The first general said. And I smiled

"Prepare for everything and may God be with us"

**

* * *

A/N what do you think? Are you curious what will happen next? *cheshire cat grin***

**If you want to know what will happen next = REVIEW! :D**

**Sneak peek: Edward and bella will be properly introduced to each other, and there will be a HUGE mess! :p**

**Anyway, thanks to my lovely beta ****Kimmie-LOVE71****, I love your work! You're the best!**

**REVIEWS ARE LOVE!**


	5. The Separation

_If the people we love are stolen from us, the way to have them live on is to never stop loving them. Buildings burn, people die, but real love is forever - The crow (1994)_

Chapter 5

BPOV

I couldn't sleep that night. The face of the sinful Adonis kept wandering around my mind. God he was inhumanly beautiful. What about King Edward's face? I thought as I lay on my bed and stared toward the cloud and angel painted ceiling of my chamber. It was dawn I guess, and I was so surprised when I heard a sudden shrill voice from outside. It sounded like two swords that were hitting each other, followed by knocks on my chamber's door. Without any warning, somebody immediately opened my chamber's door.

"Who's there?" I said sternly. _How dare somebody enter my chamber without my permission!_ I sat up and put on a thin satin robe over my nightgown, then walked towards the door.

"My Princess…" Angela gasped out.

"What happened?" I raised my eyebrow at her. She looked pasty and pale.

"The Spanish army…" She said, panicked.

"What about them? Calm down Angela"

"They are attacking us, they are now trying to march into the city Highness" My eyes widened. How can…Why…Stop being a coward spoiled Princess Isabella! Your job is to protect the kingdom! You have to make a move! Don't just stand there, and do nothing but being scared shitless!

"Where's my father?"

"He's just been woken up. What should we do my Princess? Oh Lord, Regno di Sicily hasn't been breached in a thousand years!" She said as she threw her hands to the sky.

"Calm down Angela… Everything changes with time. Gather the council please, and tell them that I will be with them in a moment." I turned and walked towards my closet with Angela following me.

"Princess, you're not going down to join the battleground are you?"

"Of course not Angela I'm not a fool, even if I wanted to my father would not allow it. Everyone will try as hard as they can to prevent me from joining the battleground." I replied as I scanned through my closet, searching for a proper simple flowing gown.

"Go! Now! Do as I say." Angela immediately snapped out of whatever her thought was and ran outside my chamber.

"Father!" I shouted as I ran into the throne hall and was welcomed into his arms with a warm hug.

"Isabella are you alright?" He asked concernedly as he rubbed his thumb on my cheek.

"Yes father I am fine, however that's not important. How come? How many of them? H-how can…God!" I said frustratingly and lifted my hand onto my head in the frustrated gesture.

"There are more than 10,000 Spanish army outside, we can't hold them much longer" A council said.

"Then what are we going to do? Come on, think everyone! Nothing is impossible, there must be a way!" I yelled at everybody as I thought of everything to hold back the Aragon army.

Then a thought passed my mind, where the hell is King Edward? We're in the middle of something urgent here, and he didn't even show up to at least help us to think the way of hold back the Aragon army.

EPOV

"Highness, wake up!" A familiar voice shouted as I felt something shake my body violently.

"Ugh, what do you want Jasper?" I asked as I rubbed my eyes

"For God's sake Edward! Wake up! The Spanish army has just breached the eastern wall of Regno di Sicily"

"Oh" I said as I closed my eyes again…Wait…WHAT?

"For real?" I asked as I sat up suddenly.

"Yes, Highness. You hear those shrilling sounds? Felix has just released the first round of cavalier. However, there are thousands of troops."

"Then where's ours?" I asked as I got out of bed to dress.

"Even if we combine our army with King Charles we will not have enough men. We brought less than 1,000 army with us Highness. King Charles' men are too spread out to gather enough for an attack such as this."

_Great. That King James bastard! He wanted to have Sicily as a part of Aragon before I get it by marrying Princess Isabella. A worse thought is, it wasn't just territory that he set eye on maybe he wanted to marry Princess Isabella. I haven't met her yet but from the stories that I've heard, it seems she was a beauty without equal. James was a women lover, by attacking this kingdom; he could have both things that he loves, woman and power_.

_What a coward, attacking this kingdom all of the sudden.__ It was another way to say that he wasn't strong enough to beat the Sicilian's army that was prepared for an attack. It was the safest way for him. If he attacked after I married Isabella, there would be no way he could defeat my men. God I never expected this to happen._

"Where's King Charles?" I asked as I put on my suit taking my special sword with me in case I need to help the Sicilian army.

"King Charles and his council are already gathered in the throne hall, Highness."

"Gather our council too jasper, I'll be there in a moment."

Slowly I walked towards my chamber's window, only to see explosion not far from my sight. It was in the city, they have breached the city.

I ran towards the throne hall as fast as I could, only to hear some familiar voices arguing.

"Then what are we going to do? Come on, think everyone! Nothing is impossible, there must be a way!" A familiar stern but soft voice yelled, wait, I know that voice.

"Princess, please calm down"

"How am I suppose to calm down when my Kingdom is in crisis!" Princess? Her kingdom? Wait, Does that mean that the woman was…I couldn't believe it. People were right. She was a beauty without equal, now I understand.

"You know what? I don't care what you people think, I will go outside and help Felix myself!" She yelled again, but her voice was a little choked. I knew she was holding back her tears.

"Princess you cannot do that!"

"Why the hell not? Am I just to stay here and let the Kingdom of Sicily break down? This is my home! If you don't want to come with me, then go back to your room, have a good sleep and die there. If you want to stay alive, then help me figure out a way." She finally lowered her voice, but it was more stern and demanding this time.

"Isabella! You are not joining the battleground! This is an absolute command from YOUR KING!" King Charles shouted.

"Princess Isabella, I beg for your forgiveness. I know I am nobody of the Sicily Kingdom, but I agrees with King Charles" Jasper's voice interrupted.

"Then you had better tell me the reason and fast because the situation out there is not getting better. The generals and I need to help them." she said coldly

"You are the princess of kingdom of Sicily, Majesty. You are the future of this Kingdom. I know deep inside your heart you are very much aware that your army as it is right now can't hold back the Spanish army."

"And what's your point?" She shoot back, her voice was a little bit shaky. Which meant that deep down, she was indeed very much aware that the army could not hold back the Aragon. I finally decided to stop my eavesdropping and reveal myself from behind the throne hall's door.

"Easy. Escape" I said then I lost my breath. There she was the brunette haired succubus. Quickly she turned around, revealing the most captivating sight I have ever seen in my life. She was wearing the most erotic flowing gown. It was a little see through, loose but still hugged the curve of her voluptuous body perfectly. God she was stunning. Her hair was tied up into some kind of messy knot but it left some curls on the side of her beautiful face.

Her eyes went wide when she saw me. Her mouth was slightly parted in disbelief, which made her a lot more sensual. I just smirked at the sight. She looked like she was about to say something, but nothing left her mouth. After a moment she snapped out of her thought and replied me sternly.

"Escape? I can't just leave my Kingdom like this!" She defended "And by the way, who are you? Entering the throne hall all of the sudden without any permission and interrupting our discussion here, how rude."

"I believe we have met before Princess, I am King Edward of Holy Roman Empire, your fiancé" I said while smiling genuinely at her. Her eyes widened one more time as she frozen in her place.

"Yes you can, and yes you will leave, Kingdom of Sicily. We are going back to Holy Roman and you Princess Isabella, are coming with us whether you like it or not" I continued.

"I won't! I can't leave my Kingdom, this is my home!" She yelled fiercely as we both stare into each other's eyes. Her eyes were full of anger maybe even hatred. How foolish of her. She still didn't understand a ruler's responsibility. Her kingdom's hope rested with her, their Princess.

"What Kingdom? Open your eyes! There is no Kingdom of Sicily anymore, this area is now officially become the part of Aragon! Aragon is too strong to be beaten by the Kingdom of Sicily!" I yelled. My stern hard voice filling the throne hall, I knew I was mean to say those words but that was the fact.

"I. Can't. Leave!" She shouted back as a tear escaped her eyes.

"You would let your Kingdom have no future? You are the future of this Kingdom! You are a fool if you chose to stay here." I said sarcastically. Suddenly, the throne hall's doors opened and a huge man walked into the throne hall in panic.

"I beg for forgiveness for interrupting my King. The Aragon army has breached the eastern wall." The man said as he kneeled down. I turned my sight back to Princess Isabella, tears fell down her cheeks as she stared at her father. She was in a dueling dilemma between her heart and her head. Her father nodded at her, which meant he approved my idea to bring her back to Holy Roman Empire with me. Slowly, she returned her sight towards me, her expression was weak.

"Now say goodbye to your people. You too King Charles" I said towards King Charles, but his eyes widened in response.

"I-I can't leave King Edward, I am very sorry"

"What!" Princess Isabella shouted in disbelief

"This is my home and I am now a nobody, this isn't my Kingdom anymore. Isabella, just go please. I trust you Isabella, I know you can get back our Kingdom" He said as he hugged her tightly. After a moment, they finally released each other embrace.

"Felix, go with her. Protect her with your life. I have trusted you with my life now I am trusting you with hers. She means everything to me, keep her safe." Her father said weakly towards the huge man. Felix bowed, then vowed to protect her with his life.

"I give you 10 minutes to prepare your things Princess." I said to her sternly. Servants walked towards her to help her walk back to her chamber and gather her things. Poor girl, she was so young. I understood why she felt so powerless though. Slowly, I walked towards King Charles' and put my hand on his shoulder.

"Everything will be fine Charles" I said calmly as tears escaped his eyes.

_I felt guilty and sorry for him at the same time. But just because the Aragon attacked Sicily, that doesn't mean that I will just drop Holy Roman alliance. My agreement with Sicily still stands.__ Princess Isabella was still my fiancé, my father taught me to be a responsible man. I could just cancel the wedding later, but for now she was still my fiancé and I am responsible for her life._

"I'll protect her Charles, she is still my fiancé. Just trust me. I know King James. He is such a greedy man, he will try and force your daughter to marry him even though he knows she is my fiancé. I must get her out of here quickly and safely. This is the best way to protect her" I said sternly.

"I trust you Edward, please protect her for me" He said, his voice trembled and I nodded. It will be the last time I see him,

"May God be with you King Charles" I kneeled down in front of him in respect, because we both knew that sooner or later he would face his death.

* * *

A/N soooooo, what do you think? thanks again to my brilliant beta Kimmie-LOVE71

a little clue for the next chapter: Edward and Bella will get some alone time together and…..just wait for the next chapter will you?

Hugs and kisses!-Ann

Review is writing fuel, then give me review, and you'll get the update sooner!

REVIEW!

REVIEW!


	6. The escape

Chapter 6

BPOV

Jessica and Angela escorted me toward my chamber as the sound outside seemed to be getting worse. I was truly disappointed and upset, but this is not just about me. This is about my kingdom and the other matter. After I reached my chamber, I immediately ran towards my closet. Angela handed me a cotton sling bag and I, without paying attention threw everything I found into the bag. I finished quickly then ran back towards the throne hall. I didn't change into my armor because right before I stalked toward my chamber, King Edward said I didn't need to put it on. I guess he figured it would just be a waste of time.

"Come on" King Edward said as he pulled my hand rudely when I first entered the throne hall. "I love you" I mouthed towards my father, as a single tear fell from his eyes and mine too. This will be our last meeting, may God be with him. Oh Lord, protect him and guide my father please.

"Be gentle for God's sake!" I shouted as I tried to stop my tears.

"Shut up!" He whisper yelled at me. We walked towards the horse stable. I looked around my palace, this will be the last time I called this home. I couldn't deny the fact that I was terrified, angry, hurt and upset. A moment later, we finally reached the stable. Felix immediately released Dane from his cage and brought him to me.

"Mount" King Edward said loudly to everyone. I looked around and just saw 4 other people. One of them was Felix.

"Who are you all?" I asked as I mounted onto Dane's back.

"I'm Jasper, the council of Holy Roman Empire"

"I'm Eric, second general"

"I'm , Emily, council" They said one by one as they smiled to me warmly. Then a thought passed my mind. _Only six of us? Where are the others? Where's the rest of their army?_

"Where are the others?" I raised an eyebrow

"We leave them here, your kingdom need helps and we can't escape if there's too many of us it will look too suspicious." King Edward explained. Well that made sense…

"You have everything my Princess? Clothes? Sword?" Felix suddenly asked, concerned. I was glad though that Felix came with me, he was the best General in Kingdom of Sicily. I felt safe around him, even though I am fully capable of protecting myself or even protecting other people's lives.

"Yes Felix, don't worry" I said as I stared into his eyes intently. He will be my only family. He will be the last thing that I have from my home in Holy Roman Empire. Felix stared back at me with his we'll-stick-together-no-matter-what-happen gaze and I nodded.

"Pull out your sword and other weapon. The Spanish army will be busy in the eastern gate, so we will slip through the main gate" King Edward explained.

"No, we can't possibly do that" I argued. "There's a tunnel that directly connects the east, west and the main gates. We have to slip through the walls. There's a hidden gate between the main and the eastern gate. The thing is that the main activity is happening around the eastern gate. We could very easily be caught by them, it may be too risky." I replied

"We could be caught whether we choose to slip through the hidden gate or we go through the main gate. We could die either way. It's a risk I believe we must take." Eric said

"Lead the way Felix" Jasper said, and I cut him off. "No, I will lead the way, Felix will watch our backs"

"Fair enough. May God be with us. In the count of three…One…Two…GO!" King Edward shouted as we immediately kicked our horses and sped towards what was hopefully our way out.

"YAA!" Emily shouted and within in a matter of seconds we had arrived in the city. There were combated men all around us. Some tried to attack us, but we managed to handle them.

"Princess your left!" Eric shouted as I swung my sword as fast as I could to my left. Immediately cutting the throat of my attacker. We continue our ride towards the hidden gate.

I felt somebody coming closer to me. King Edward walked his horse closer as he tried to stabilized the horse and calm him with the bridle rope.

"Princess, hide your face with something. A piece of fabric, a cloak or anything." King Edward whispered. I grabbed the first thing my fingers touched from my sling back and it was a cream-colored see-through veil. I immediately placed it to cover my nose and neck area, leaving my eyes uncovered.

* * *

EPOV

"Princess, hide your face with something. A piece of fabric, a cloak or anything." I whispered. Her beauty will be too striking for her own good. People would easily realize that she is the Princess of Kingdom of Sicily.

"Don't listen to what they say, don't turn around and don't stop riding Princess" I whispered again and we continued running with our horses. There were hundreds of Aragon army who blocked our path. However, Princess Isabella's skill amazed me again. She was fully capable of handling the sword and protecting herself. Her movements were so fluid, elegant yet amazingly powerful and fast. She never once screamed hysterically or broke down just because she was terrified. She could kill a man without even blinking, she did not doubt herself or her ability. She never shied away from the blood and never felt mercy for her attackers. She was doing what she knew to be right. She was protecting her own life, those of her people and her home. She fascinated me.

She was upset and angry though. I understood the reason why she could kill a man without any mercy. Suddenly, there was a very large explosion that came from the palace. I closed my eyes for a second, I knew this was going to happen. May God be with Charles and the Sicilian people. King Charles was a great king, just rest Charles, your time is over and now it's mine and your daughter responsibility to take back your Kingdom.

I looked over Princess Isabella, and she was frozen in place. Her eyes were blank, her lips slightly parted and a single tear fell from her eyes. Slowly, she turned her head to look back.

"Princess don't look back!" I shouted. When she was about to turn her head, two Spanish soldiers jumped towards her horse. They both had two swords, one in each hand. Princess Isabella's eyes widened. It was too late for her to block the attack, suddenly Jasper was there and blocked the men.

Thank God Princess Isabella finally came out of her daze. She appeared to be a thousand times angrier than before. Without any hesitation, she turned her horse and waved her sword towards the men as she tried to hold back her sob. One swing of her sword for each man and their bodies dropped to ground without heads attached.

"Come on Isabella, let's move" I said as she followed me from behind. I felt sorry for her though, I could hear her sob behind me. I turned around to see her face was blank and cold, it was a killer's face. She was truly loathing the Aragon their deaths would come. I could see the killing hatred and fire in her where there used to be deep brown eyes.

A moment later we finally reached the wall between the eastern and the main gate. Felix walked towards the gate and knock on the different sides until he found the passage.

"Here!" He shouted. "Help me" Felix said as Jasper, Eric and I ride towards him and helped him push the secret gate. Emily stood behind us beside Princess Isabella, trying to sooth her.

After a moment, the gate finally opened and all six of us ran through it. However, there were hundreds of Spanish army men who realized it. All of them immediately gave chase.

"Speed up!" Jasper shouted as all of us speed up our horse. After what seemed like a life time we finally managed to lose them in the dense forest.

"We should get some rest" Jasper said, exhausted.

"Yeah, I'm exhausted too" Felix replied

"Same here" Emily continued.

"I know this area, Felix, remember when I was 5 and I was missing for 2 days? I was wandering around here with Jacob. Just go straight. There will be a very clean small river" Princess Isabella said calmly, I was amazed with her emotional control. She just lost everything that had ever meant anything to her. Her father, friends, her people and her Kingdom. Yet here she is trying to not show her sadness. She is an amazing woman.

We rode deeper into the forest for some time. Princess Isabella suddenly jumped off her horse, took out her sword and began to cut the bushes.

"Here" She said calmly and took her horse's bridle rope "Come on Dane, you should get some rest my boy" She whispered to her horse as she kissed its head.

We settled down and drank the water from the lake. God, it was so refreshing. Once we had our fill along with our horses, the six of us laid on the cold grass to get some much needed sleep.

I couldn't sleep. I had been restless for the last 2 hours. Sleep was evading me, god it was frustrating. So I decided to walk towards the river and wash my face.

"Oh Christ…" I heard a silent whisper and a sigh came from near the small waterfall. I decided to approach the voice. I knew that voice. A young woman shouldn't be part of this kind of disaster. She must need a companion or someone. I'm not use to do this kind of thing, but I could try though.

"Princess?" I asked quietly and she turned her head to face me. Her eyes still the beautiful endless brown, held less of the fire from before but they had a haunted sadness.

"May I sit here?" I asked as she nodded and gestured for me to sit beside her, not too close though.

"What are you doing up? Why don't you sleep?" I asked as I staring at the calm flowing small water fall right on her left side.

"Um nothing, just day dreaming. Well technically it's night, so I guess it doesn't count as day dreaming right? I just couldn't sleep. I don't know...?" She said awkwardly as she folded her legs and put her head between her knees as her right hand played with the grass.

"What were you day dreaming about?"

"Just stuff, you know, my father, my home, my childhood, my friends, my mother" She said quietly. I realized that her voice was trembling a bit when she talked about the "stuff"

"You miss him don't you?" I asked. I knew exactly how she felt, my father died when I was 10. I may not understand what it feels like to lose everything all at once but I do remember how I felt my father's loss. I can only imagine what she was going through without anybody for her to lean on for support. Though my situation back then was different than hers, I did still have my family and friends. I was however forced to be a king when I was just a foolish 10 years old naughty kid. Still, my situation was a lot worse than hers.

"Yes I do, but right now it seems I cannot morn him. Something just doesn't feel real right. I don't know. Maybe one day I will feel like crying and then I will cry for years once I finally realize that everybody and everything is gone except for Felix and my Dane"_Dane?_

"Who's Dane?" I asked as I raised my eyebrow

"My horse" She said as she chuckled a little. Oh yes I remember hearing that now

"Would you tell me a little bit about your father and yourself? Though I did not know King Charles very well I would consider him a friend of mine. I clearly feel sorrow, he's was a great man. So don't feel like you're being pushed okay? I just want to know more about that big hearted man and you of course." I said as I smiled genuinely at her.

I was a little surprised at how relaxed I could be around her. I really wanted to talk to her and listen to what she had to say. I felt a sense of guilt and responsibility to this woman, it was overwhelming to me; I never felt this kind of thing before. It felt weird, strange and so foreign. I didn't like it.

Maybe this is what people called platonic feelings…I don't know. Christ, I don't care!

"For me, he was my best friend, my teacher, a loving father and my hero. He was a little bit tough sometimes, but I understand why. He was ambitious and he wanted me to be the best Queen I could be. He taught me everything, from the simple small things to how to be a wise and compassionate ruler. It was harder for him to teach me such things like how to speak and even how to eat with grace. Those were things that a woman would usually teach her daughter but I believe he did a great job. He taught me to be my own person an independent woman who could stand up for herself. Which was why I was very confused when he told me about…you know…our engagement" She tensed a bit when she said the word "Engagement"

"Go on" I replied as she sighed

"There was this day when I was about 5, my father decided it time for him to teach me how to use a sword. I was small even for my age. All I wanted to do was run and play with the other children so I didn't understand anything he was showing me. I thought it was a new game. He got so angry with me and I started to cry heavily. My father then realized that he was wrong when he saw my tears. He immediately apologized then swept me up in his arms and hugged me. He slowly explained things to me so that I could understand them and after another brief lesson, which I did better he took me riding around the palace" She said as she smiled softly, I didn't miss a small tear escaped her warm eyes.

"And there was this day when I was like 10, he finally decided to fulfill my curiosity about my mother. He told me everything that happened. Since then, I finally understood why he was being so tough toward me, he just didn't want the same thing that happened to my mother happen to me" Another tear slipped down her cheeks, and she immediately swept it away with her delicate hand.

"God I'm so sorry, I'm usually not the type of person who cries easily like this, how stupid" She said frantically as she swept all of her tears off her cheeks and tried to hold back the rest. My feelings of sympathy toward her were overwhelming; I didn't know what came into my mind that time, but somehow my left hands moved on its own and I wrapped it around her shoulder.

"W-what are you doing?" She asked looking at me, her eyes wide. Without any warning, I pulled her closer until her head rested on my shoulder.

"Shhh, it's okay, just let it go Isabella, let it all out." I whispered softly. She was silent for a moment, but slowly she finally started to relax. She put both her hands on her mouth while her body trembled fiercely and an endless heart-breaking sob escaped her lips.

* * *

**Kimmie-LOVE71 rocks! thanks for your brilliant work! she's a great beta!**

**what do you think? you like it?**

**Im a little bit upset though, i got less reviews than the previous chapters. Reviews are like writing fuel guys! the more review you write, the sooner you will get the update. i hope this new chapter can get more than 20 reviews :)**

**thanks for reading, i'll update soon! there will be a little hot scene and action in the next chapter! :P**

**love**

**Ann**

**REVIEW!**


	7. The Thoughts

Chapter 7

The Thoughts

BPOV

"Oh God" I mumbled quietly as I stretched my body and sat up from my deep sleep, my body was sore all over. I looked around to find everybody was still asleep, except for King Edward, where was he? I stood up deciding to walk around to see if I could find Edward. I finally found him asleep like the other. He was resting on a huge tree with a book in his lap. His lips were slightly parted and his face looked so peaceful. I couldn't take my eyes off of him. The way he looked even in that innocent position, he still looked like an undeniably enraptured incubus disguised as an angel.

I walked around for a little while stretching my body and finally decided that I need to clean myself up. I felt so dirty and it wasn't from actual dirt I was referring to. I was covered in dry blood. It was all over my clothes and my skin. That had actually only been the second time I killed human beings. Which is why, I now feel so helpless and guilty. But even the guilt I felt couldn't overcome the hatred that I felt toward Spain and its King.

After a moment, I finally reached the lake and slowly stripped out of my clothes. Thank God Angela brought me enough clothes…Then I felt a pang on my heart. Where is Angela? How is her condition? Is she even alive?

Weakly, I walked into the cold water, and cleaned myself as I hummed a song that my father used to sing to me when I was a child…

EPOV

Christ, what is wrong with my body? I stretched and stood up. My body was sore. It is no wonder that I hurt so much because of the position I was sleeping in last night. Without looking around much I headed towards the lake where I met Princess Isabella last night to wash my face.

After a moment, I finally reached the river side. Slowly I rolled my sleeves up to my elbows. I put both of my hands in the freezing water and splashed it over my face. God it was so refreshing. I was drinking the water from the river when a woman's voice took my attention. Somebody was here and it definitely was a woman because I could hear her humming lightly.

I turned my sight towards the humming voice and my eyes widened. Princess Isabella was here. She was taking a bathing in the middle of the river, near the waterfall…..Naked. Her smooth back was facing me, thank God. Slowly, I stood up and walked away from the riverside.

But as unlucky as I seemed to be, I stepped on a branch, breaking it loudly under my foot. _Jesus Christ_.

1…2…3…

"What! Oh God King Edward! What are you doing here sir!" Princess Isabella shouted frantically and I sighed. Oh help me God. I turned around and held my hands up to surrender.

"I swear Princess, I didn't see a thing!" I shouted back. But I lost my breath immediately when I looked at her. There she stood in all her glory. WET. She was still in the middle of the river, however now she had both her hands covering her chest. Her long brunette hair was falling like a waterfall over her back sensually. No matter how much I tried to consider her as a child. It just was not working for me. The view in front of me was indeed, irresistible. Then I suddenly realized that she probably noticed that I was checking her out.

"Oh really sir?" Her voice lifted my sight back to her face again. She lifted her left eyebrow and gave me the I-Don't-Trust-You stare.

"I should probably get going" I said as I ruffled my hair with my hand in my not-so-nervous gesture. Looking at naked woman was normal for me. I have seen a lot of naked women in my time. Most of which were chosen prostitutes. My morals are indeed not very good for a King, but I am still a man who has needs. I have never taken a queen for myself. So like I said I have needs and no one could accuse me of taking a mistress or trespassing the rules. But somehow, seeing Princess Isabella there, wet and naked, well not really naked. She had no clothing on but her hands were covering her chest. Yeah well she was..Naked. It felt wrong staring at her like I was. I felt guilty.

I felt guilty not because I actually saw her. I was feeling guilty because I thought things about her…Dirty things. The major one being that I was hard as steel just thinking about the scene she was creating while bathing. God! Her luscious lips, her solid yet soft tantalizing body, her full breasts. She was a real torture for me. God I was a sinner.

I slowly walked back towards the place where we rested. Something startled me. I heard sounds, not just any sounds, but horse steps.

"Keep looking around, this is an order from King James, we have to find the Princess!" A hard voice shouted. Without any hesitation I ran back to the lake, she was still there, still….Naked and still…Wet. I immediately erased my dirty thoughts and grabbed her clothes from the lake side.

"Isabella!" I whispered shouted. She turned her sight to me without turning her body.

"Sir!"

"Keep your words for later, get out of the lake. Now!"

"But my King, I—"

"I. Said. Now!" I said sternly. She was wasting our time, of course I was mad. Her expression turned into something of horror and she immediately nodded. I wanted just to throw the clothes to her, but I couldn't. I couldn't because if her clothes got wet, it would make them heavy on her and restrict her movements. She is going to need to be able to move quickly.

"Fast!" I whispered again. She ran out of the lake, with one of her both hands covering her chest and the other covering her…Feminine part.

"Here are your clothes" She immediately turned her back to me to dress and I got to see her fine ass in front of me. God Edward this is not the right time for Heaven's sake! She put her clothes on quickly and pulled her hair into a pony tail.

"Come on" I whispered and ran back towards our horses while she followed behind me.

"Not in the purpose to be rude my King, but what happen?"

"I'll explain later, just run!" After a few moments, we finally reached our previous place. Everyone was already up and prepared. I guess they had heard them too. Felix immediately pulled the two horses' lashes and handed them to the both of us.

"Just follow the river, it will lead us to the city of Messina. But Messina is not too far from Palermo. If King James sends his soldiers to search for us there, it will be too risky if we stay too long in Messina. We can only have a short rest in Messina, then continue our journey until we reach Pescara" Felix explained and all of us immediately kicked our horse and ran as fast as we could.

"How long will it takes for us to reach Pescara?" I asked to Felix who was riding right beside me

"I don't know my King, but it usually takes more than a week. Do you have any of your men staying in Pescara?"

"Yes Felix, I left some of them there with lots of food supplies, horse carts and weapons considering Pescara is the border of Regno di Sicilia. But I'm not sure if they are still there. James is a smart man, he could have sent his army to finish them all off before we reach Pescara so that we won't have any help"

"I saw them!" A voice shouted from far behind us. Christ.

"Speed up!" I shouted

"Yaa!" Felix growled to his horse. The seven of us speed up, but something was missing. Where's Princess Isabella? I haven't heard her voice since we escaped. She is the type of person who always tries to look calm, while deep down inside she's actually panicking. I noticed she usually covered her panic with babbling. I immediately looked back and there she was. She was not far behind us but she was stopping. What is wrong with her? Seriously?

"Isabella!" I shouted. She lifted her head and I could see panic and sadness in her eyes. What happened?

"Dane got stabbed! I don't know if he can continue the journey!"

"Felix, you continue with the others. We will meet you at the city hall. Isabella knows where the city hall is right?" Felix nodded

"Good, just trust me. Duke is probably the fastest horse I've ever known. Be safe"

I pulled Duke's lash backward and ran toward Isabella.

"Shh, shh, it's going to be okay my boy" Isabella whispered in Dane's ear. God, once again, she was just wasting our time. I pulled her by the waist and lifted her onto Duke's back.

"You will be riding with me"

"What about Dane?" She asked, panicked

"That's the point, he can run faster when he has no extra weight at all. We will leave him in the city to heal. We will just have to find someone we can trust with him. Then we will find a new horse for you." I said while I rode. I looked back and found Dane following Gregor. Good boy

"No, I don't want a new horse." She replied. God, how childish

"Save it. You don't have any say in this. You will get another horse or you will die. He's defected, he's in no good condition. We have to arrive at Holy Roman as soon as we can. Waiting for him to heal is just wasting too much time" I explained

"But my King—" Childish, foolish, stubborn. She's now officially on the top of my blacklist

"No Isabella" I said sternly as I accelerated.

**

* * *

A/N IM REALLY TRULLY SORRY! My dad just got sick and stuff, so the whole family had to take care of him. Seriously, it sucked. That's the main reason for the late update. Im sorry :(**

**Anyways, what do you think? Since my dad is already better, so yea, I have like a LOT of time to write. :)**

**Oh and not to mention the great work of my beta! ****Kimmie-LOVE71**** ROCKSS!**

**Oh, and…REVIEW!**


	8. The Cries

Disclaimer: I don't own twilight, Edward, Bella and other characters. But I do own the Painting and The Knight, the plot is originally mine

The risk of love is loss, and the price of loss is grief -  
But the pain of grief  
Is only a shadow  
When compared with the pain  
Of never risking love ~Hilary Stanton Zunin

BPOV

"Isabella wake up" A hard yet gentle velvety voice whispered. Slowly I opened my eyes and found myself being lifted by two warm solid hands. King Edward?

"You fell asleep" He stated coldly. Oh God, I immediately jumped away.

"Don't you dare touch me!" I shouted, but he did nothing in response, he simply looked away.

"What is wrong with you!" I was getting tired of treating him with respect. We both were in the same condition, I had no time to make him happy. We simply needed to survive.

"Don't waste our time!" I shouted as I pushed his shoulder rudely. I looked over his face. His eyes were simply, I'm not exactly sure but they held something that cut off my ranting. I followed his stare and my eyes were stunned by the sight of hundreds of dead bodies. Men, women, children, old people, pregnant women…They were all… dead.

"Where are we?" I asked in a whisper as my body trembled with sadness.

"Messina…" He replied softly.

There they were, my people. They lie helplessly on the land of Sicily, soulless.

"Apparently King James had-" I lifted my hands and placed them over his mouth before he could finish. I couldn't process anything. I felt so powerless. Slowly I fell to my knees, and I felt tears start to sting my eyes.

"Isabella" He whispered while he wrapped his left hand around my shoulder.

"This can't be happening!" I cried out.

"Isabella calm down"

"No….No…NO!" I felt my body fall to the ground and I began to sob, hard, "Oh God, please tell me this isn't real."

EPOV

She was breaking my heart. I slowly knelt down,

"Isabella…Come here" I whispered as I slowly wrapped my hand around her waist. I brought her close to me and held her hard to my chest. She did nothing but whimper. She was crying and screaming so hard, her whole body shook. She was hysterical. Her fingers unconsciously clawed and scratched the soil until they bled. Her body was trembling so hard, it was making me shake as well. "Oh God.." "Father…" "Oh Virgin Mary…" she kept whispering to herself.

"This isn't real right?" She finally pulled her body away into the sitting position. "Tell me this is a joke" She continued and she laughed. "Yes, a joke.." Her laugh grew harder and louder while her eyes were still red. She was in shock.

I was wrong about her situation, I thought I could understand what she feels, but no, I couldn't. I probably would have killed myself if I had found my people helplessly dead on their own land and home.

"Don't waste our time Isabella…Come on." I took the advantage while she laughed and lifted her bridal style.

"Hey, why don't you answer me?" She pouted as she put her arms around my neck while I walked the both of us back to my horse.

"There's nothing I need to answer Isabella"

"So this is real?...NO! You are a liar!" She shouted and jumped out of my arms.

"You are a huge liar!" She pointed at me, I did nothing but stare at her helplessly.

"So this is real?" She asked, her expression saddened. Slowly, she looked around one more time and sat down with her hands wrapped around her knees. She started sobbing again,…Harder than before.

"Isabella come on" I whispered and walked towards her.

"Leave me alone…I want to be with my people" She said between her sobs.

Before I could walk any further towards her, something caught my attention. Horse steps…it could be James' soldier.

"Isabella come-" I shouted but a familiar voice cut me off.

"It's them! My King! It's us!" Jasper shouted from his horse as three other horses appeared on my sight. Thank God.

After a moment, they finally jumped off their horses.

"Princess…" Felix whispered as he knelt down beside her.

"She won't talk. I think she's in shock. She was crying so hard, then all of the sudden she laughed so hard, harder than her cries" I was telling him but Felix insisted on talking to her.

"Shh…Belle…My little Belle…" Felix whispered softly to her and magically Isabella melted into his arms, and sobbed on his chest. That hurt me, what's wrong with me? She thinks I'm a bad guy?

"We must leave them here Princess. Let them get their rest on their land. On our land Isabella. Our land. For now, we should trust King Edward. Your father trusted him with his heart. We, as his people should trust King Edward too." Felix whispered and Isabella nodded in response. Slowly, he lifted her bridal style and walked to his horse.

"She will be riding with me" He stated

"We should continue our journey now, considering this unexpected situation." Emily replied and all of us nodded.

* * *

It has been 4 days since we escaped and we haven't reached Pescara yet. Felix said we probably will reach Pescara by tonight. Slowly, I turned my sight towards Princess Isabella. She was breaking my heart, slowly but surely. Her face broke me. She was talking with Felix softly, both her arms wrapped around Felix's body as she put her head on his back. Her eyes finally reached mine, but all I could see was…nothing.

Nothing, just emptiness like a ghost, like a person being hypnotized. There was nothing, not love, sadness, happiness, fire, or even hatred. Deep down she was still so depressed, not that I blamed her one bit. Then I got an idea how to make her alive. I just wanted something to show up in her eyes, anything, even if it's her hatred towards me.

"We should rest. This is an absolute order." I said to everyone as they bowed in response.

I jumped off of Duke's back, and took two swords from the bag on his back. I looked over to her and saw she was leaning on a tree. She was staring emotionlessly towards the semi dark sky. I stalked towards her direction. Very slowly, I lifted the swords in my right hand and pointed it towards her neck.

"Isabella…Don't you angry?" I asked while I lifted my left eyebrow. As I expected, she responded quickly, and grabbed the sword from my left hand.

"You!" She pointed, we both now pointed out sword towards each other's neck. Tears sprang out from her eyes, her dead face now turned into something more fiery. Fiery with hatred. She then waved her sword, she was trying to kill me…For real…Well I didn't expect that. Fortunately I was quick enough to block her sword.

Our swords were now battling against each other. And I was shocked at how much power she was commanding. She seemed three times stronger than before, even I, a trained swordsman had to fight hard to block her attacks.

"Isabella enough!" I shouted, she was getting too strong and fast. I couldn't handle her, if we continued our combat I knew I would find my end. Eric, Jasper, Emily and Felix had tried to stop her, but they just couldn't.

"You bastard!" She shouted furiously

Every time they tried to grab and hold her, her lightning fast hand immediately waved her sword towards the voice, or in Jasper's case, she picked a dagger from inside her pants and threw it towards him. Jasper was shocked to death when he found the dagger sticking out of the tree he was leaning on, and it landed only like 2 cm from his neck. Her killer instinct was controlling her now.

Now she was chasing me. To be honest, I was indeed, scared…to death. I was so shocked when I felt my back hit something…A tree.

I. Am. Dead

She jumped and waved her sword as fast and strong as possible, but I was quick enough to block it. Barely.

"Isabella…Enough!" She did nothing in response but kept pushing her sword towards mine, harder this time.

"Isabella…It is I…King Edward…Stop Isabella, STOP!" Her eyes finally reached mine. And I was glad to found that even though her eyes were full of hatred and fire, I could still see a spark of warmness.

"Good…Just like that…I'm King Edward. Isabella…I'm not James" I whispered while I slowly pushed her sword until it fell to the ground. Tears started to show up again finally she was coming back to herself.

"Come on…" I walked closer and awkwardly put my arms around her. Her small slender frame fit in mine perfectly.

"Shh…" I whispered once again and just like that, she was back. She put both her hands and her head on my chest. She let out a strangled sob then just cried into my chest. Welcome back Isabella, she's alive again.

"I-I thought you…James…Bastard…My people…Dead…" She whispered, I couldn't make out all of her words though. She technically seemed to be whispering to herself.

"There's my girl" I smiled

* * *

**A/N Soooooooooooooooo. What do you think? :D you like it? Just tell me through your REVIEWS! Once again, ****Kimmie-LOVE71 ROCKKKKSSSS! Im practically your biggest fan now!**

**Unfortunately I just got 21 reviews from the last chapter, come on peeps. Just hit the button and write something, reviews are my writing fuel! The more review you write, the sooner I'll post the next chapter :p**

**oh and i just want to ask, do you think my writing per chapter is too short? ill make it longer if you think so (tell me through your review or pm me!)**

**XOXO, Ann**

**So yeaah, REVIEW!**


	9. The new world

Chapter 9

BPOV

Just 30 minutes ago, we reached Pescara. I was so delighted to find that James hadn't finished off my people here. King Edward said we shouldn't be recognized by my people. I was truly angry at first, but his explanation did make sense. He was afraid James had already talked to my people and brainwashed them. He said that James could have told them that we are now fugitives, even though I'm sure they wouldn't believe him, but James was a cruel and tricky man. He could have offered them some amount of money if they find us.

So here we are, walking around the city at night wearing a thick cloak as if I was some sort of magician or something, and I'm the only one who was wearing a cloak actually, considering the people wouldn't recognize the others.. Felix said we shouldn't ride our horse, it will draw too much attention.

Jasper, Emily and Eric were already far ahead of Felix, King Edward and I. We split up just 30 minutes ago. King Edward…Every time I think about that name I felt something weird. It wasn't just my mind that reacted, but also my body. My breathing hitched, my heart skip beats, and to be honest…I didn't like it. Those symptoms were weird; I never felt that kind of thing before.

I turned my sight to see him, and my mind automatically drifted back to the moment when we were in Messina. He stood for me, he; as much as I thought he hated me; still willingly took care of me. The days after I found my people dead, I felt dead too. If it was not because of his sincere diamond like clear emerald green eyes that were always searching for something in mine every time our eyes met, I would have probably been permanently dead.

He might think I felt nothing back then, but honestly, I was indeed still awake and perfectly alive. I still noticed every movement, every words that he said. I was still in shock, my body, my mind, my logic, and my heart didn't work in a perfect sync. I did notice everything. He always sighed every time he looked into my dead eyes, what I really didn't understand was…He looked sincere, as if he really did care for me.

And when I finally came out from my dead zone, I was welcomed by his two warm arms. He held me awkwardly but still, it felt like…home. I felt warm, welcomed and I didn't want to let go from his hold. His hold made me forget about everything, I immediately felt calm and peace, as if I was being hugged by my father, but in the different way. King Edward's hold was…nicer, warmer,…I immediately closed my eyes and cursed myself, this will bring me to nowhere.

I opened my eyes again just to find him, only topless this time. The day was indeed very hot. You only have two options, wear a cloak to protect your skin from the sun but you will be sweaty as hell, or wear nothing at all so that you can at least feel the wind. However you run the risk of getting a sun burn.

This is the first time I saw him topless and to be honest, it felt nice…You know, to see him topless…God I sounded like a sex maniac. Did I already tell you how good his body was? Then I was wrong, his wasn't good, it was astonishing. Not just his face that could be Adonis' rival, but his body also. His features reminded me of the guy artist named Michelangelo of Tuscany, he once visited my father in our palace and showed King Charles his sculpture, they called his work as David. David was nothing but perfect. When I saw his Statue of David, I thought it was probably the most breathtaking creature I ever laid eyes on. There was no way a human was as beautiful as him. But no, I finally found one, King Edward's features were even better than those of David, and what was better was the fact that King Edward was perfectly alive and human.

But then, before I could even admire his features even more, his eyes met mine…Sweet

My cheeks went hot and I immediately looked towards the road one more time. A masculine hard yet soft chuckle came from behind, and I felt even more embarrassed.

"This is the border My Princess, My King" Felix suddenly said. I was too caught up with the whole King Edward and Statue of David thingy to even realize that we had already out of the city of Pescara.

"Felix! King Edward!" Emily shouted from my right side, there they were.

"Thank God we finally reunited. Eric, do you remember where they are?" Edward asked

"We left our soldiers here my King" Eric replied hesitantly

"Are you sure?" Edward asked one more time, and Eric slowly nodded

"Fuck!" He cursed and kicked a stone, and Emily immediately sobbed, so I guess one of the soldiers was important to her. Everybody was too confused, until I realized there was something under the small stone that King Edward kicked; blood. And it wasn't the only blood stain, there were like more than a hundred spots, and surprisingly, the spots made some kind of track. Somebody might still alive.

"My King, you should see this" I threw off my cloak so that I could move easily and knelt down.

"This is blood" I explained.

"We should follow the blood, somebody might have been injured and escaped before he got killed" I continued, King Edward raised an eyebrow and smirked at me. What? He smirked? Meh

We jumped onto our horse's back, and started to track the blood. Still, I didn't miss the fact that at least every 30 seconds King Edward would steal a glance towards my side. Weird…Oh and by the way, he was still topless, which was why I was so distracted.

"It stopped" Jasper stated

"What do you mean?" I asked

"The blood drops, they stopped, we can't track them anymore. Somebody might have killed him on his way escaping or somebody might have helped him"

"No, you guys are wrong. Look at that" Felix replied and pointed his index finger toward a small village.

"Come on!" I shouted. I never knew there was a village right after Sicily. Weird

After a few moments we reached the village, and every villager was staring at us, especially King Edward and I. Are we really that weird?

"Excuse me ma'am, have you…" King Edward asked, but immediately got cut by the woman

"Come with me, I know who you are searching for"

All of us followed her as she led us to a small hut. Jasper slowly entered the hut first, and he shouted "Thank God!" from inside. Emily's eyes widened and she ran into the hut.

King Edward and I immediately followed and we were greeted by the view of Emily sobbing so hard while hugging a huge burly man.

"My King" The guy immediately bowed

"No need, are you okay Sam? Where's the other?" He asked, Sam immediately closed his eyes and whispered, "dead" I cringed at his words, I'm still a little paranoid about that word.

"But some of us are still alive my King, the others are outside, I'm the only who is still in the process of healing"

"Thank God, were you able to keep your weapons with you?" Jasper asked and Sam nodded in response.

"We should go as soon as possible, tomorrow?" Eric recommended and we immediately agreed.

"I need to take a rest" I whimpered as I rode my horse, I know I sounded so weak, but for God's sake! We've been riding for over 3 days since we left the village. And we only sleeps for just like 3 hours per day. We're already in the city, what's wrong with stopping by a shop to buy drinks and stuff? It will take less than 30 minutes, "2 hours more Princess, and we will arrive at the palace." Jasper said. All of the sudden I heard horse steps pass me.

"How spoiled" A familiar hard beautiful voice muttered coldly as he sped up and left me. W-what! Who the hell did he think he was?

"Hey!" I shouted and sped up to catch him.

"What did you say!" I shouted angrily

"Nothing Princess" he replied coldly while his eyes fixed forward, I just gaped at him. Unbelievable, so this is how he played the game? Fine, you are NO King of mine Cullen.

"We're here" FINALLY!

"Ugh" I muttered and threw my head onto my horse's neck.

"Come on" Jasper said and all of us finally reached the gate. The soldiers immediately bowed, and in less than a minute it seemed like hundreds of servants came towards the gate.

"Princess" 8 maidens bowed at me, and assisted me to jumped off my horse.

"What the-" Before I could even finish, the 8 of them helped me walked towards a luxurious classic crème horse cart.

I looked around only to find myself gapping at the view. The cart was undeniably beautiful, it was like a thousand times more luxurious than my cart in Sicily. Back then in Sicily, it was all about beauty, while here in Holy Roman, it is all about luxury.

I looked over the window only to found another horse cart with the nastiest pompous man in it, King Edward. He rested his head on the seat, and he was sleeping.

On the way to the palace, all it felt like I did was stare like a gaping fish with my mouth open "Ooh-ing and Ah-ing", the view was indeed undeniably beautiful, but that still couldn't take away the nightmare about-you know what I mean-from my mind. I know I probably looked perfectly normal, but no, I think I was worse even.

3 days ago even though I was lifeless, but at least the pain didn't hurt like now. I simply couldn't feel anything, which was good. But now, every things, every move, every view always reminds me of my Sicily. The thought of my condition made me feel so plain and dull, I got nothing in the world now. I was all alone.

A moment later the cart finally stopped, somebody opened the door and I stepped out of the cart. I was welcomed by a very glorious huge palace to the likes of which I have never seen before. It was so luxurious, too luxurious. I didn't need luxurious, I simply need comfort, I didn't think I could get adapted to this kind of atmosphere.

"Your Highness, I'm Rosalie, King Edward's sister in law, I'm going to give you a tour, do you mind?" A beautiful elegant but cold lady with icy blue eyes suddenly appeared in front of me and asked. I just simply nodded while she gestured me to follow her.

She showed me the throne hall, palace kitchen, library, music room, dancing room, fencing room, everything. But that still didn't impress me, finally, she showed me my chambers.

"This will be your private chamber Princess. There's a present waiting for you on the bed. You'll have your privacy here, feel free to call me if you need anything. But tomorrow I go to France, and your private servants Giana and Lucy will come back from their home tomorrow. You will meet them then. Now you must be tired from your trip maybe you should try and rest. If you need any assistants to do anything ring the bell and the servants will come straight forward to your chamber. Have a nice rest Your Majesty" She smiled genuinely and left.

Slowly I stepped deeper into the chamber and explored every things. It was big, too big even, it felt so empty and cold. I was surrounded by luxurious beautiful things, but I still couldn't feel anything. I walked over towards a giant bed covered by a smooth thick red velvet bed cover. A perfectly polished box was lying on the bed. I walked over the bed and slowly opened the box.

A beautiful polished violin was lying inside the box, and I found a small piece of paper on it which I slowly unfolded and read

"My Princess, I heard from King Charles that the only thing that can lighten up your heart and soul is the violin. This violin was especially made for you, this was your father's last wish before we left. I know this is not much, but King Edward and I really don't know what to do apart from giving and preparing everything that you need. I hope this will be useful.

Sincerely,  
Jasper."

EPOV

"Mother" I said as I bowed in front of her, before I could even bow at her she immediately hugged me so tight "Oh Son…You are alive" She whispered

"Yes mother, I'm sorry for making you worry so much" She looked up at me with a questioning expression.

"Where's the princess? She survived, right?"

"Yes she did but I don't think you seeing her now is the best idea, she needs to rest"

"Come on My King, I just want to see her face, I'm curious, is she really that beautiful?" Esme asked, her eyes shimmering with curiosity. My mother was the type of a person who once she wants something, she'll get it, same thing happened with my little sister, Alicia.

"No mother, I'm so sorry, but no, period. Give her a break, she's tired, besides, I'm sure she needs some alone time with herself right now." Esme said nothing but lifted her left eyebrow.

"What?"

"Nothing…Oh Aro is searching for you"

"I'll meet him after dinner, let's go mother" I replied and we walked side by side with her left hand wrapped around my right hand.

"So where's the so called beauty without equal my King?" Victoria, one of my father's concubines asked, I didn't miss the sarcasm in her tone though.

"Her chamber" I simply replied

"Oh really? She's a guest here, she should show some respects by at least having dinner with us, what is wrong with her? How uneducated"

"Victoria" My mother hissed. I simply continued eating dinner, there was no use to have a fight with Victoria. When she heard the idea of marrying Isabella, somehow she really opposed it, I didn't understand. Victoria…well, she was probably the only palace's member I always have hard time with, I didn't even understand why my father brought her inside the palace. Victoria was nothing special, don't even get me started on her daughter Lauren, that girl who is 10 years younger than me and she really was annoying.

"What Esme? Look at your son, he didn't even do anything, she's a princess for God's sake, show us some manners and respect. Oh, or maybe she's just acting to be so vulnerable, so that you wouldn't cancel the marriage arrangement Edward. I mean, she just lost a father, what's so hard about that?" I started losing my patience, I didn't know why I felt so defensive about her, but Victoria was absolutely clueless with what she's been through.

"Victoria…." Esme hissed for the second time

"You want proof? Fine, I'll find some, but listen to me, I don't trust that princess, and I'm absolutely going to take her out of the palace and make you cancel the marriage arrangement, she's nothing now anyway, what's the benefit of marrying her? Why don't you marry Tanya instead?"

"Victoria you're dismissed from the table, out now!" Esme shouted

"What? Esme what's wrong with you dear? Tanya is a perfect woman for him, she's beautiful, elegant, smart, charming, she's the only one who is suitable to be Edward's queen"

"He is MY son Victoria, and I'm the one who will decide whether or not I approve his chosen soon-to-be queen"

"So now Esme, you give freedom of choosing a queen to Edward himself? What if he chose the wrong queen? You can't let Carlisle's mistake to be repeated by his son" She was out of the line, I stole a glanced at Esme and saw her eyes started to wet. Esme replied nothing but staring at Victoria with her angry teary eyes

"See? You got my point right? Now Edward, let me see Princess Isabella after I finished the dinner, that girl needs to be taught," She was started to irritated me more than I could endure, she knew nothing about Isabella.

"ENOUGH" I shouted as I stood up and stared at Victoria "You wouldn't see her at anytime soon, and the past is the past, Carlisle didn't make any mistake in his life." I said coldly toward Victoria and left the dining room. Christ what's happening to me? Why am I feeling so betrayed just because of Victoria's words about Isabella

"So what are you going to do Highness?" Aro asked while we walked side by side towards the conference room. I was so tired but Aro insisted on doing a sudden conference to tell about what happened in Sicily.

"I don't know Aro, we'll see what happens"

"You can't just go where the wind bring you Edward, this is a commitment issues. Once you're tied down with Princess Isabella, there will be no turning back. Besides, if you still marry her, what will we get? Nothing son. Think about it again. She's nothing now, she's simply a princess of a forgotten kingdom."

"I know, we'll think about it later Aro, she's still in a deep trauma, we can't just put her in such a complicated situation, she needs to rest."

"So now you, my son, finally care about something-Wait, did you really mean it?" But my attention was distracted when we passed Princess Isabella's chamber. I held my hand upward telling him to stop talking. The doors were slightly opened, and there she was, Princess Isabella, standing beside Rosalie. Rosalie was talking about something. While she, Princess Isabella, was just standing there doing nothing but crossing her arms in front of her chest with her head a little bowed, it was the kind of gesture that said "I don't want to be here". I know for the fact that she was still in shock, but still, what have I done? I did everything she wanted. I gave her everything she needs and she still felt unsatisfied with that?

"Aro, can we just do the conference tomorrow? Or the day after tomorrow?"

"My King we—"

"It's an order, cancel the conference, I need to rest. We'll do the conference the day after tomorrow" I simply said and left him. My chamber was side by side with Isabella's chamber somehow, I didn't even understand.

I slowly walked into my chamber, and brought myself onto the giant bed. God, finally, this is heaven. Suddenly a beautiful violin sound came from other room, it was so calming, yet heart breaking, the friction between the bow and the string was perfect. I learned to play piano when I was 5, so I know a lot about music, the very first thing that came out from my mind when I heard the violin was the fact that the player is too good to be true. The player was playing such a beautiful sad melody; it was so real, as if the player was experiencing something with their very soul. I couldn't make out the tune, so I guess the player was just playing by her/his memory. That immediately brought back the memories of my father…He was such a good violinist. He was such a loving man, and he poured his heart and dedicated his life for music. If he wasn't a King and wasn't killed because of…No Edward, the past is the past, everything happened for a reason. It was not your fault.

Then a thought crossed my mind, "Oh, that is so kind of you Edward. Well, Isabella…hmm. She loves to read and write. She is a genius violinist". King Charles once said that about Princess Isabella? I never thought she could be that good of a violinist. Just a moment later she stopped playing and I tried to let myself fall into get a deep sleep.

But I couldn't sleep that night, I kept thinking and thinking. What will I do? Cancel the marriage arrangement? Or keep it going? I am expected to cancel it. Any King would do that, but I just simply couldn't. I didn't even know why. There was this uncomfortable feeling in my chest every time I think about cancelling the marriage arrangement.

Just when I was about to close my eyes again, I heard a scream, not just a scream, a heart breaking sad scream. I knew the voice. I immediately lifted my body to stand up and ran towards the chamber next to mine. I knocked, but she didn't open it. So I decided to open it myself. Surprisingly, she hadn't locked it.

"Isabella!" I shouted, but she was still screaming. I ran towards the bed behind the curtain, I knew it was inappropriate, but I was just simply worried. I yanked the curtain, only to find the elegant creature that was Isabella lying helplessly on the bed wearing nothing but a thin sheer night gown, God help me. Both her hands grasped the bed cover strongly, as if she was in pain. Sweat was dripping down her forehead and soaking her hair, tears fell down from her closed delicate eyes. Slowly, I leaned down. My left hand grabbed her right hand as my right hand cupped her cheek.

"Isabella!" nothing…

"Isabella wake up! It's just a dream! For God's sake wake up!" I shouted one more time, and she immediately opened her teary but beautiful clear brown eyes in surprise. Her chest kept falling up and down, as she looked around

"Calm down, it's just a dream" She was holding my hand so tight, her body language was awkward, as if she was trying to decide whether she was going to hug me or screaming at me for entering her chamber. Sitting on her bed right now, it was awkward so I decided to speak even though the words that came out of my mouth were really unexpected and cold.

"It's just a dream, next time please try to control it. Your chamber and mine are side by side, I was about to go to sleep-"

"I-I…" her voice shook a little and she closed her eyes, she was trying to hold back her tears, I guess..Slowly she opened her eyes and sharply said, "Your Highness…please get out." Truth to be told, I was shocked. Who did she think she was? I knew I was mean to her but she was just having a nightmare and I without thinking said those childish words to her.

"Fair enough" I whispered and left the room. I felt nothing but guilt and worry. I closed her chamber's doors, and looked over the closed door for the last time. I could hear she was sobbing inside her chamber, and I felt really worried and concerned. I didn't know what had happened to me…

"What happened my King!" Two guards bowed in front of my in all of the sudden

"Nothing. You two, guard Isabella's chamber. Am I clear?"

"Yes Your Highness"

**

* * *

**

**Sorry for the late update :(((((((((, i promise, and i PROMISE, i'll update chapter 10 and 11 less than a month ;), thanks for my beta Kimmie-LOVE71 for editing this chapter! you rocks guys, thanks for the waiting, i know it's my fault, sorryyy :(**

**umm, REVIEW!**


	10. The other heart

Chapter 10

EPOV

The sun still hadn't risen fully; but I couldn't continue my sleep any longer. I figured a little horse riding around the palace would be good. Slowly I woke up and changed my clothes. On my way outside the palace, I ran into Jasper. He was walking alone; he looked a little bit lost

"Jasper" I greeted

"My King" He bowed

"What are you doing this early? I know that you're not a morning person" I chuckled lightly.

"Nothing Edward, I'm just…well, confused"

"Confused? That's new; you've never been confused before. About what Jasper?"

"Isa—Nothing, I got to go Edward, I'll see you soon." Did he mean Isabella? It was weird though, Jasper and I were like brothers and he always tells me about everything, there was no secrets between us. Something was going on.

I was running around the palace with my horse, I've been doing this kind of thing at least once a week to refresh my mind. I think I'm going to do it more often now since the pressure is undeniably hard, I was lost, confused by everything. My situation, decisions and especially, confused by my feelings.

"I know you'll be great friends with Dane." A familiar voice came from the far of my left side followed by weak insincere laughs, "Now I sounded like a lunatic, talking with you…I just simply really don't know what to do, what do you think…W-what am I suppose to do? I really don't know who I can trust, who I can lean on, who I can talk to. I'm alone." Her voice was shaky, she was about to cry, I have to stop it.

"Princess?" I jumped off of my horse and led the horse to follow me and walked towards Isabella. She turned her sight to me seemed shocked for a bit, she immediately swiped off her tears and jumped off of the horse to bow at me.

"You're Highness" She sincerely said

"What are you doing? It is indeed a little bit early for horse riding" Her eyes widened a little, she seemed surprised with my nice behavior today.

"I just need to clear my mind Highness"

"I see. Let's walk together then. Always remember that two is better than one, right?" I laughed awkwardly as we both walked together side by side while leading our horses.

"Isabella…"

"My King..." We both said at the same time, and laughed awkwardly at that.

"Ladies first" I continued

"This is indeed really not important, but I just need to know something, how did you find out that I actually can play the violin?"

"King Charles, he told me"

"Oh…I just want to say thanks"

"Thanks?"

"Um yes. F-for the violin, it is so nice. The fact that I don't need to go the music room just to play makes me really comfortable and you didn't actually need to ask Jasper to wrap it so beautifully anyway." Violin? What violin? I did ask Felix to prepare everything that he thought she would need, but why would he need to give her a gift? Beautifully wrapped? Jasper?

"Oh really? Jasper?" I asked back

"Yes Highness, aren't you the one who asked him to give me a present? It's written in the letter"

"What letter?" I grew more curious by the second; I think I finally got the story.

"Oh I think I have it in the pocket of my dress...Here"

"Thank you"

"My Princess, I heard from King Charles that the only thing that can lighten up your heart and soul is violin. This violin is especially made for you; this is your father's last wish before we left. I know this is not much, but King Edward and I really don't know what to do apart from giving and prepare everything that you need. I hope this will be useful.

Sincerely,  
Jasper."

Jasper…..Could it be possible that he is interested in Isabella? Don't get me wrong, Isabella was indeed an undeniably beauty. She is talented, nice, calm, strong and controlled, not to mention her body. The fire in her eyes, those pouty lips…Stop it right there Edward for Heaven's sake. But I never knew that it was possible for him to, well, you know. Poor Alice, no matter how much she tried to hide it, I knew for the fact that she liked Jasper…So much.

Before I could even processed what I was doing, my hand moved by itself. I crumbled the paper in my right hand threw the paper into a pond. I didn't really throw it in the pond though.

"My King what are you doing!"

"I'm throwing the letter"

"What! It's a letter for God's sake! You need to respect it, Jasper wrote it to me by his hand. Throwing his letter means throwing his pride. Beside, you were the one who asked him to give me the present, so you were the one who indirectly ordered him to write the letter"

"It's trash" I replied

"God Damn it...My King! It's a letter!"

"God what is wrong with these people…let me ask you something, why would I give you presents Princess? Do you think that I have had time to think about giving you presents? NO! We were almost dead; I've got tons on my mind. I have my family matters, royal business, TONS! So why do I have to respect the letter? Because I didn't give you any present and I didn't order anyone to write any letter!" I shouted at her.

BPOV

Was he crazy! I think he was bipolar

"That's it, I'm going to get it back" I huffed, and ran towards the direction where the letter fell

"Hey! Are you crazy!" Slowly, I took off my slippers, and threw off my flowing gown, wearing only the boy short and inner dress, I stepped into the pond

"Isabella! God! What are you doing!" He shouted angrily as he ran towards the side of the pond

"I've already told you Highness, I'm going to get the letter back" I replied as I scanned the wet soil inside the water with my hands and feet.

"There's no use, come on, step out of the pond, you embarrassed me"

"No, I need to find it first"

"Fine, here, I didn't throw it, step out of the pond, now!" He took out the letter from behind his back, and smiled that crooked smile teasingly. That son of a bit-Queen! Yes, queen, he was a king, right?

"You didn't throw it?" He shook his head while trying to hide his laugh

"You. YOU!" I shouted

"What are you doing...?" I ran towards him and pulled him as hard as I could so that he fell into the pond. In less than 5 seconds, he was soaking wet

"Isabella…" He growled

"What?"

"You only got your legs wet, look at me!" I just laughed as hard as I could, his hair, everything was wet and…amazingly dirty

"Nice suit you got there My King" I bowed teasingly, but before I could even stand back, he jumped at me until I fell back, I tried to fight him but he was too strong, both of his hands were wrapped around both of my arms above my head, he just smiled that teasing crooked smile and whispered, "I just remember, oh look at that, you are only wearing your inner dress, isn't it such a perfect moment to—" Ew, that's just ew, so I immediately cut him off

"No one is going to hear you Princess" He whispered huskily, in all of the sudden I saw a very beautiful elegant blonde haired lady.

"Help! Help! The king is going to-YOU! Yes! YOU! Get this stupid man off of me!" Before I finished my words, the soft elegant voice owner cut mine.

"Emperor? Edward? W-what are you doing?" Her eyes widened as she stuttered...She called him with "Edward"? That means she was close with the King. King Edward turned his head towards the voice and his eyes seemed about the pop out from his head. I immediately kicked him as hard as I could and muttered "Stupid"

"It's not like what it seems, he was simply stupid, we were just playing." I said calmly while I stood up. I was nearly shocked to death when I saw the lady closer. God her beauty was heavenly, she was so elegant, her skin was so pearly and soft, not to mention her clear blue eyes. She was a goddess for sure, if I hadn't been straight, I would have probably already fallen for her the first time I meet her. Wait, I've never been in love with anyone, what if I'm a bi? Or lesbian? This girl really ruined my world.

"Oh Tanya, meet Princess Isabella, Isabella meet the daughter of Eleazar, the Archduke of Austria." I just smiled at her while she slowly bowed at me.

"It's really nice to finally meet you my Princess…" she stared at me for a little while and continued "Everybody was right" I just nodded and smiled even thought I didn't really understand what she was talking about, she slowly lifted her head again and stared at me…Her mouth indeed was smiling sincerely, but that didn't happen with her eyes, maybe she thought I didn't realize it, but I did, her eyes were examining me. There was something about her. Edward, realizing the awkward moment and the silent conversation between Tanya and me, immediately broke the silence.

"The sun has risen, you should clean yourself and the Queen wants to meet you." Edward said calmly so I nodded.

"It's nice to meet you my Lady" I said one last time, and walked over my horse. Slowly I jumped onto its back, and started to ride off passing both of them. Tanya immediately stared at me sharply while I just stared at her emotionlessly, her stare was indeed killing, but I was used to that kind of stare, considering my father was hellishly strict with discipline. So I just stared at her coldly, and smiled at her half heartedly. There was something going on between King Edward and Tanya.

EPOV

"She's pretty" She whispered

"Beautiful" I corrected her and immediately regretted it, I couldn't help it.

"Are you going to marry her?" She asked me, her clear blue eyes stared at mine deeply

"I don't know, we'll see what happens"

"How old is she?"

"I don't' know, 21 going on 22 probably" I shrugged while she crossed her arms on her chest, I knew that gesture, she was annoyed, irritated, and angry.

"So old for an unmarried princess" She said coldly

"She was supposed to be a queen" I continued "I was the one who ruined the plan of her life, she's only two years older than you Tanya, she's not that old"

"She should have stayed and become a queen then, that would have be better. Your action hasn't only ruined her plan, but mine too." Christ, I know where this conversation is going

"I know, though, it's been a long time since I've met you Ta…" Before I could even finish she cut me

"I don't like her" This is what I feared the most

"Believe me, you shouldn't" I looked at her sharply. Tanya had always consider me as her guardian, I've been her brother since the day she was born. Eleazar was the very best friend of Carlisle and my father forced me to protect Tanya with all my being, and of course I did that. Even though it was not my father's last wish, he still hoped that someday I would marry Tanya. Although my father knew that I would never marry her because I always considered her as my precious sister, but as the time goes by things didn't go as I expected. Tanya started to fall for me, and grew overprotective, though she was only 20 years old, her mind somehow works maturely.

"Why? I've already told you that I was okay with you marrying a lady or princess, but please not her, I don't like her" Tanya was the other princess in the palace beside Alice. She was used to being treated with respect, her beauty made everybody adored her more and she was indeed a little egoistic. I had to admit that Isabella was indeed piercingly beautiful, maybe that was the reason why Tanya didn't like her. Tanya and Isabella's beauty were different. Tanya was everybody's favorite, the perfect lady, her beauty was calm and gentle, elegant and soft. Isabella, she was something more irresistible. Her beauty was not only shown on the outside but also on the inside. She was beautiful in more ways than what the eye could see.

Before the first time I met Isabella, I always thought Isabella was the elegant kind of princess, considering her name and what people said, everybody was saying, "she is a beauty without equal," everyone adores the lady like woman. I never expected that Isabella could be anything like this, strong and dominant, fierce and fiery, yet her movement was always very elegant and smooth and fluid. She was like a black swan and Tanya was the white swan. Both of them had a very different character. The Black Swan was the one who was supposed to hate the White Swan. The Black Swan was the antagonist and having Tanya hating her was what I feared the most. I didn't trust Tanya to be strong enough to manage all the problem she'll have with Isabella.

"Just please Tanya, don't do anything, this is for your sake. I will call off the marriage arrangement, trust me, I will but don't do anything to her" I said it to protect her. After a couple of months trying to examine Isabella, I knew for the fact that Isabella was not an ordinary woman. Her father had taught her to be a strong queen since the day she was born whom made her such a strong willed ambitious person and grew up without a mother role to guide her. This forced her to be strong, independent, and deft.

Carlisle told me when I was a kid the lists of kingdoms that are ruled by strong Kings, and Kingdom of Sicily stood in the top list. Which meant Charles was feared by other kingdoms, why would a king be feared? Because first, he was strong, dominating and last but the most important thing, he was smart. Considering he was dying to make his daughter to be the strongest queen ever, of course he taught her well enough about the critical things of becoming a strong leader just like him. And not to mention her skills, she was extraordinary. But the most important thing why I didn't want Tanya to do anything to her was because her eyes, those brunette eyes. One thing for sure, she had fire in her eyes. I knew that she was not a person who could easily be angry and she was a kind person, she was calm and controlled, but who knows? There were tons of what ifs in my mind.

Until now, I still feared her even; I didn't know her well, who knows if she had a backup plan on getting revenge on my Kingdom since the reason why James attacked Sicily was because Holy Roman was there at Sicily.

And actually there was another reason why I didn't want Tanya to step into the business between Isabella and I. Tanya was smart, she was strong willed even though her personality was not as strong as Isabella, but one thing for sure, she was crazy for me. I was afraid Victoria would lead her to do something out of spit and nonsense. And Isabella was in the state where she needs protection; she was alone now, so I did this for the sake of the both of them.

"So now you even choose her over me" Tanya laughed sarcastically.

"That's not what I mean Tanya" I stepped forward and put my hand on her shoulder, but she immediately slap it

"Don't you dare" She whispered angrily, her voice was a little shaky like she was about to cry

BPOV

"Let me lead you to the dining room my princess" A servant said sweetly and I immediately nodded.

After a moment we both finally reached the dining room, I was indeed a little nervous to finally meet everybody. The moment I stepped in I couldn't do anything but just stand there like a stone. They were all so beautiful.

"Princess Isabella?" A soft motherly voice brought me out of my trance. A beautiful blonde haired middle aged woman walked towards me, and even bowed in front of me, so I bowed back.

"I'm Esme, Edward's mother..." She said and muttered, "he was right" to herself, what did she mean?

"Please take a seat anywhere you want beautiful" Esme said nicely and I immediately took a seat. Right in front of me was the cutest girl I've ever seen, her shiny black hair was braided and she put it over her shoulder, she was undeniably pretty and attractive in her own way.

"I'm Alicia, Edward's little sister, but just call me Alice" Her bell like voice even sounded beautiful.

"Nice to meet you Alice, I'm Isabella, call me Bella if you want" I smiled back at her as excitement was springing in her eyes.

"We are going to be best friends!" She shouted excitedly, and that shocked me. I thought all the ladies here were well-mannered, but this girl was jumping from her seat excitedly and even shouted in the dining room.

"So Bella, how are you? Are you feeling any better?" Esme asked nicely and I nodded

"If you are talking about my health then yes, I'm so much better" but if you're talking about my condition, no, I didn't feel any progress, kill me.

"How old are you Bella?" Alice asked

"I'm 21, but I'll be 22 soon" I smiled

"Oh my God, mom! She's only a year older than me! We are soooo going to be best friends!"

"Alice..." Her mother scolded her silently; all I could do was laugh silently to myself.

A moment later Jasper came in and bowed in apology for being late, he slowly sat beside Alice and she immediately blushed. I stared at her and raised an eyebrow, Alice's eyes widened and immediately shook her head as if to tell me that it was not like that with Jasper. Nice try Alice, really. They would make cute couple though, beside Jasper was only 25, he told me on our way back to Holy Roman. Their age difference really doesn't matter. And that made me envious. Considering my situation with Edward, he was already 30, while I'll turn 22 in September. We're 9 years different, it would be 8 soon, still, 8 was not a small number…Wait what? Edward? Why would I be upset over our age differences? Nonsense

And just less than 5 seconds after Jasper came in, a beautiful read haired lady came in and the room immediately turned silent, what happened?

"Who are you?" The lady asked me, I did realize that her voice was a little bit shaky, as if she was in shock or something, but she tried to hide it. I immediately stood up and bowed at her

"I'm Isabella of Sicily my Lady" I replied calmly, this time I didn't use the "princess" title, because as a matter of fact, I was no longer a princess.

"Are you the daughter of King Charles?" She asked back

"Yes Highness" I stared at her as her lips trembled a little and she immediately left the dining room. I slowly sat back and before I could even ask, Esme said

"She is Lady Victoria, my husband first concubine" She told me sadly, and that really broke my heart. What if Edward takes a concubine? How will it feel? God stop thinking of him Bella, you don't like him, and you're not going to marry him, it's not like I'm going to stay here permanently.

After a moment we finally finished our breakfast, "Let's take a walk together Bella" Alice said excitedly so I agreed to accompany her. She immediately ran over me and wrapped her left hands around my right arm.

"Let's go!"

"Yes! How did you know! Oh my God we should play together someday, you can play your violin and I'll play my flute. Oh Christ, I hoped I'd have a sister like you" We kept chatted, laughed and even ran around the garden; she was such a nice person to be around.

We sat at the side of a giant water fountain.

"How long have you liked Jasper?" I suddenly asked

"No, I don't like him Bella" She glared at me

"Lie to me again and I'll push you into the water"

"Fine! Fine! Yes I like him. I have liked him since I was 15, satisfied?" She asked sarcastically and blushed

"Don't be shy Alice; we all have the right to adore someone. Does he know?" I asked while I played with the water with my palm and she immediately shook her head sadly. She moved closer to me and leaned her head on my shoulder

"You are the only person who I've ever talked to about him. I don't know who I should talk to, most of the girls here are friends with me because I'm the princess, they always back stab me or use me. And I can't talk to my mom, she had already has too much on her mind, and not to mention my brother. Edward is always busy, and he never really cares about me. All that he thinks about is his duty, he never gave a damn about me or even my mom. I hate him" I put my arms around her shoulder, poor Alice, I was indeed sad for her, but I was a little jealous, it was still good that she still had her family around her. Well, look at me.

But then my attention was changed when I saw some weird movements from one of the windows. I didn't tell Alice though. There they were, King Edward and Tanya in one of those rooms, they were yelling at each other. Tanya was yelling and crying while King Edward however tried so many times to hug her or calm her down, but Tanya was just pointing and yelling at him.

"Alice, who's Tanya?" I simply asked while I stared at them as Alice kept leaning on my shoulder

"She's practically Edward's sister. That's what Edward thinks. But not Tanya."

"What do you mean?" I asked as I kept watching the both of them quarrelling

"Eleazar is the best friend of my dad, before Carlisle was dead he made Edward promise that he would be Tanya's guardian. But as time went by I think Tanya fell for him, so hard. Edward might not realize it, but I know for the fact that Tanya loves Edward with all her being. She's nice, beautiful and kind hearted, she's the only loyal friend that I have here. I love her too, she's family. She didn't really agree with Edward marrying another woman, but I think she's finally fine with it. They are trying to clear up their issues lately. It will be awkward if they marry though, it will be sucks to imagine they—You know what I mean. Bella…promise me you're going to marry Edward,"

In all of the sudden, Edward pulled her into a hug and she sobbed inside his embrace. Somehow, that weird feeling in my chest appeared again.

What is going on between both of them?

TPOV

"For once Edward please! Do you know how it feels when you find out that the man who is previously your fiancé is about to marry another woman?" I shouted at him, I couldn't hold it any longer, the previous days had been hard for me, he always told me that he loved me, but he didn't even care about my feelings.

I didn't hate Isabella, really, I didn't hate her, I was just being sick and tired of being sick and tired. He kept giving me hope. He protected me with all his being, he listened to me, he understands me, he even sacrifices so much just for me. If he didn't love me back, why couldn't he just tell? It was too late though, I have already fallen so hard for him, he was everything to me, I couldn't lose him, not for the second time after my father's tragedy.

"Tanya.."

"Stop calling my name! I'm tired Edward, really. I can't stand you anymore. I don't care even though you're the king, but I hate you!" I couldn't stop the tears that fell from my eyes

"Calm down Tanya, calm down" He stepped forward and grabbed my wrists, his touch immediately calmed me down, but still, I felt hurt.

"You bastard!" I shouted as I slapped his chest while his hands were still wrapped around my wrists. All of the sudden, I felt a push on my back and I was welcomed by the warmth of his chest.

"I'm sorry" He whispered, I let my head rest on his chest and sobbed.

"Why can't you just disappear Edward..? Living near you is hard, I hate you"

"I know. But I can't live without you, you're part of my life" Yes of course…Because you love me as your sister.

"Same here" Yes of course…Because I love you as a man.

I looked over the window while I was still in his embrace, and realized that Princess Isabella was watching us from outside. She was sitting on the fountain with Alice by her side, leaning her head on Princess Isabella's shoulder. Princess Isabella was staring at us with her lips slightly parted, her expression didn't show any anger or sadness, or even jealousy, but I could tell she was confused. It seemed that she wasn't confused with both Edward and I, but as if she was asking herself about something.

I immediately pushed Edward, realizing that what I was doing was wrong, I didn't have any rights to make the Princess jealous. She deserved to be with Edward, she was beautiful and talented. I heard her play her violin last night and it was indeed mind blowing. Isabella was strong, independent and smart. Jasper told me about their journey back to Holy Roman. He told me about how she tracked the blood and stuff. And most of all, she was a kind hearted person. Although she didn't act really nice to me previously. I was a stranger to her, and she was still in the state where she doubted everything, she was in a strange place with strange people. It was good that she actually smiled at me. And not to mention her beauty, I never expected her to be that beautiful. I do realize that I am beautiful. I was perfect if I do say so myself, but Princess Isabella was something else, she was beyond beautiful.

"You should meet Aro or Jasper, they said they wanted to talk to you, about a conference or something" I said as I wiped the tears off my face

"Are you sure you're okay?" Edward asked concernedly and I just simply nodded.

I looked over to the window and my eyes met the Princess', her lips slowly lifted up and she smiled at me sincerely, and that made me feel really guilty. Just a moment ago I even thinking of getting her out of the palace, but all she did was smile at me…sincerely.

**A/N hi all! Thanks for reading, what do you think? Im need advice and feedbacks, please review! **

**Review is my writing fuel, so yeah, REVIEW! Btw, ****Kimmie-LOVE71**** rocks!**


	11. The tension

_I dont own twilight_

**Truly sorry for the really REALLY ULTRA late update, i've been really busy lately, so this is chapter 11,i try to make it longer for you guys:D and i'll try to update asap for you lovely readers ^^**

Chapter 11

EPOV

"There's a letter from Spain My King" Aro said, we were gathered in the palace meeting room because of this newly arrived letter.

"Read it" I commanded, Jasper slowly unrolled it and started to read it out loud. I didn't really pay attention to the opening and greeting part, but I was unbelievably angry when I heard the point of the letter.

"I know for the fact that right now, King Charles' daughter is in Holy Roman, she could be by your side even. The reason why I sent you this letter is because I just want you to know that having Sicily as the part of my kingdom is not my only purpose, I of course don't want to miss the biggest opportunity to have the most beautiful woman as my wife. With respect Edward, I require a reply to this letter to let me know when Isabella will leave your palace so that my people may pick her up from your kingdom…"

I was beyond angry, I was mad, who did he think he was? He ruined Isabella's life and now he even asked her hand in marriage. He was a lunatic and clearly insane. Jasper's eyes widened in shock, his hands were trembling as if he was trying to hold back the urge to tear up the letter. I just sat in my chair as my hands grabbed the arm rests as hard as I could to hold back my anger.

"It's up to you my King but as the kingdoms head council I think that it's better to give her up. King James is a shallow minded king and if you don't give her up he'll declare war as soon as possible"

"NO" I stated

"But you're Highness…" Aro continued, but Emmett cut him off

"Edward is right Aro. We can use the war as a trick to get his territory, if he really does declare a war that is. Then we set our territory as the price."

"No, that will be too risky Emmett" Jasper shot back

"But I'm not going to let you guys give Bella to them for nothing, she's precious" Emmett defended back

"Indeed, she's a great asset to have. Though you have no intention to marry her Majesty, we can still give her a critical position in the royal government. Isabella is young, smart, independent, dominating, and strong. Though she has none of her own family left I believe that the connections to other kingdoms, made with her father could be valuable to us." Marcus stated, he was indeed right as usual.

"Marcus is right. Most of you probably remember hearing that King Charles always brought his precious daughter everywhere he went. Isabella was highly praised by all that made her acquaintance. If we have her and use her right there will be many other kingdoms who will want to have alliances with us simply because of who she is. Having Isabella with us will bring many advantages our way." Caius continued

"But I think you should marry her instead of giving her a position. Though she's no longer a princess the prospect for the future will be too good to be true" Aro stated

"No!" Jasper all of the sudden shouted, I turned my attention to him and stared at him questionably.

"I mean, what if she doesn't want to marry him?"

"Since when do we care about her feelings? It's political and you want to put your logic above everything?" Aro simply asked.

"No, Jasper is right, it is all up to her. I don't want to force her because right now she's in the state of where she needs protection and stability. We will need to let her decide whatever she believes to best for her" I concluded. I didn't know why but everybody immediately stared at me, as if I was being crazy.

"What?" I asked confusedly

"N-nothing your Majesty"

"Good, then the meeting is ended, Eric, you can start writing the reply letter to James after we know about Bella's decision"…I immediately confused with myself, since when did I let myself call her, "Bella"?

"I'll talk to her about it" Jasper said

"No, I'll talk to her myself" I replied calmly and left the room, he immediately followed me

"Edward!" He shouted while he ran towards me at the hallway

"Yes Jasper?"

"Let me talk to Bella.." He said between his breaths. I raised an eyebrow at him and before I could even ask he immediately blurted out,

"I like her, really" He was serious about it too. My palms began sweating, my breathing hitched, my chest felt heavy and somehow the very first thing that came into my mind was to punch him. I didn't do it but at that moment I really wanted to.

"Then we'll talk to her together" I simply replied and left him. Jasper however, immediately followed me with his super speed.

"Jasper, why did you never tell me about the violin?" I asked teasingly but seriously at the same time. I was irritated when I found out that Jasper did it behind my back and then to some degree annoyed by the gesture.

"Sorry you're highness, I simply wanted to make her feel better is all" He said and smiled at me, God Jasper, he just smiles too much.

"I still can't believe that you actually like her" I snorted, now that was a lie. I knew for a fact that the real Bella was stupid and foolish, but those things didn't make her unlikeable.

"I really do, she's something Edward…" He paused and stopped walking for a few moments. I however continued my walk at a steady pace.

"Are you going to marry her?" He suddenly asked, I immediately turned my head towards him and instantly realized that he was being serious.

"It's up to Bella. I can't decide anything for her she can make up her own mind. If you are asking about what will I do for later, I have no intention of giving her to anyone at anytime." I replied straight to the point, I guess Jasper realized that what I meant by anyone really meant _ANYONE. _I had no intention of giving Isabella to anybody at all and that included Jasper himself or James. No one would have her.

Jasper was just stared at me deeply; there was this very thick tension between us, so I decided to continue my walk towards the music room.

BPOV

"How did you know! I like that song Bella and wow, the way you played it, it was just wow!" She exclaimed excitedly and even jumped around. I immediately asked her to sit back...Yesterday I had a conversation with Esme, it turns out that behind her cheery, happy and excited personality, Alice was vulnerable. .

Alice was sick, well not the kind of disease that would cause her death right this second but if not cared for it could be deadly. Esme had explained to me about Alice's immune system, which was why she wasn't allowed to let herself get to wore out or tired. I now understand why Alice seemed really sad yesterday when she was talking about her brother who didn't even give a damn about her. Edward was a bastard, here his sister was sick and vulnerable, one might think that he would care but he never even asked about her condition.

"Thanks Bella, my mom told you about it didn't she?" She simply stated as her shimmering yet tired eyes stared at mine. I simply nodded at her because there was no point in lying to her. Suddenly the door flew opened revealing one very gentle looking man and one that was full of pride and himself.

"Alice? Are you alright? You look tired" Edward asked sincerely. Alice wouldn't even look at her brother, Edward's face looked hurt.

"I'm going to take you to your room, come" Jasper immediately said and wrapped his arm around her small waist to help her walk. On the way to the door Jasper whispered something to Edward and they both left my chamber. Great

"Bastard" I muttered to myself.  
"What?" Sweet, he heard it.

"Why do you have to be so...Self-absorbed, and selfish. Your sister didn't even want to look at you straight in the eyes" I knew I was wrong to say it and that it was not my place but I was being a bitch. I was sick and tired of being sick and tired.

I was so sick of my situation that even though I cared for others, I was tired of being the person people leaned on with their fucking problems. My problem were even worse than all of theirs combined, yet everybody was still trying to add more troubling things to my mind.

"God!" I grunted to myself "I'm really sorry you're highness, I didn't mean..." I felt as if I was about to cry, I was tired and I meant _REALLY_ tired of everything. I had no one to lean on or talk to, I felt as if I was being chased by someone dangerous and would be caught at any minute. I knew for a fact that in this kind of situation people would try to take advantage of me considering my previous status as the princess of Sicily. I didn't mean to be vain or anything but it is a matter of fact. I have met every King and Noble my father knew. My father was the one who made me jump into the dirty political life of the _'Royal Noble'_ since I was a kid. I knew that he was just trying to teach me to be the best Queen I possibly could for our people. It really was no surprise to me that everybody wanted to take advantage of me though. I was also havingreally bad dreams lately that would keep me from sleeping through the night. _'These'_ terrible nightmares were about my parents and it bothered me so that it was almost impossible for my mind to rest.

"It's okay" He calmly whispered. "I have something to talk to you about"

"I'm really sorry" I continued my apology

"No need to apologize Bel..Isabella" He replied nicely, what? Did he almost call me Bella?

"Um, let's have a seat first then we can talk" I said awkwardly, we both positioned ourselves face to face on the sofas of my chamber. He cleared his throat then began to speak

"Marry me Isabella" He spoke straight to the point, his eyes staring into mine deeply. My eyes widened in shock.

"W-what?"

"I want you to marry me, be my Queen" He sincerely said. My heart was beating so fast because I was partly happy, yet still extremely frustrated. Then my mood immediately changed for I knew he was going to marry me now and I quickly realized that he wanted to take advantage of me too. He was proposing to me for his own benefit. Not because he wanted me, no. He wanted to use me.

"Why?"

"Simply, you're the perfect woman to be my Queen" He replied calmly

"No" I stated

"What?" This time, his eyes were the ones that widened

"No, I will not marry you," I replied calmly. However my chest felt so heavy when I said those words.

"This is a now or never opportunity Isabella"

"I know it's rude to say no, but I have to say no. I'm truly sorry You're Highness but I simply could not do that." I knew that I couldn't with all my heart. Edward I knew for a fact only wanted to marry me to use me and I didn't want to be trapped inside of a loveless marriage. I'm not a person who really cared about love, but this time I really wanted to care. I needed to care because I didn't have anyone now, but being loved by someone even if they were not a Noble or anyone special for that matter already meant something for me. I would prefer to be loved by a nobody rather than being used by a somebody. And what about Tanya? Didn't he love her? I could see it in his eye and the way he hugged her, the way he whispered to her, it was so intimate. Though Alice said that he didn't love her, still, Edward probably could deny his love for her but his eyes spoke volumes. Even though his love for her was not as big as her love for him, it was still love. And I didn't want to ruin their life just because of who I am.

"I see" His tone somehow broke my heart. It almost sounded as if he was really upset. He slowly lifted his head and his eyes met mine. He smiled sincerely, but that heart melting smile didn't reach his emerald eyes.

"Please reconsider my offer" Was all he said then disappeared out my door. I walked towards the giant window and stared at the view as tears fell down my cheek. I didn't even know why I was crying, but the fact that he wanted to take advantage of me truly pained me, it was as if I was looking for something more.

EPOV

She turned down my proposal

That low prostitute turned down my fucking proposal

I was furious, but I tried to hide it, slowly I rose from my seat and left her. Jasper, however was already waiting for me outside the music room.

"Well?" I couldn't help but grab his collar and strangle him, I was beyond mad

"Listen to me you son of a bitch, though that brown haired bitch turned down my proposal, that doesn't make you the winner understand. If you try to touch her I will have you strung up by your entrails" I whispered angrily at him, Jasper was just staring at my eyes confusedly and by the look of it I knew that he was afraid.

"Now go get me a nice lady" I spoke as I threw him to the wall. I slowly walked to my chamber. A deep regret washed over me, it wasn't a competition and Jasper was a brother for God's sake! There were times when I lose control but never toward Jasper? Fuck, this is bad, real bad. After a moment I finally reached my chamber, only to be welcomed by two half naked ladies. I seriously need to get laid.

A curvy redhead slowly approached me, "Evening My King" She whispered while she slowly licked my left ear. That gesture USED to be sexy, but somehow I didn't even feel aroused at all. Who cares anyway, I just need to get everything off of my mind right now.

Without any doubt, I ripped her stupid gown and pinned her to the wall. I crashed my mouth to her, licked her neck, her two breasts, her nipples, and still I didn't feel any pleasure. Knowing the dilemma in my mind, the other girl with a straight mahogany hair shoved the redhead away from me. She slowly stripped my pants off of me and her hands started to rub all over my crotch. Now that feels good.

She finally opened her mouth and put my length into her warm mouth. Strangely, all I could think was Bella, I imagined her soft tongue licking the length of me while her deep brown eyes kept staring at mine, making sure that she was doing it right. I couldn't help but grab the whore's head and set the speed faster.

"Bella.." I groaned as I kept fantasizing about her. The dirty images of Bella kept appearing in my mind and I really couldn't help it, so I exploded in the whore's mouth by groaning Isabella's name again. The prostitute stood up and tried to kiss me but I shoved her away

"I dismiss the both of you, out of my chamber" I coldly spoke to the both of them. They quickly left my chamber and I threw myself on the bed and stared into space. Christ what is wrong with me? Everything that I did reminded me of her. I even remembered her voice, her scent, her gaze, her eyes, even the way her lips moved when she was angry. I could picture the way her deep brown eyes turned fiery when she was mad, the way her lips parted when she was about to smile, oh and the way her small toned body moved while doing sword practice. Shit I'm basically fucked.

JPOV

I slowly knocked on the music room, I had to speak with Bella.

"Come in" Her rich voice shouted from inside and I immediately opened the door. I had to admit, I like her, really liked her. There was something about her that really pulled at me, and it was scary. Bella gave off this really strong pheromone, even Emmett was interested in her, not sexually, but oddly still interested.

"It's Jasper"

"Oh, have a seat" She said without looking at me while she was cleaning her violin.

"We need to talk" I said loudly so she would hear me, she just nodded and sat in front of me.

"What is it?" Not knowing how exactly to tell her the thing I needed to tell her was confusing. I slowly cleared my throat.

"Did you just turn down Edward's proposal?" She nodded coldly

"Why?" I was just curious you know, how could a girl turn down someone as good looking as Edward? Besides, he has power, not to mention his perfect well sculpted body..great now I sounded like I'm into him.

"Here's the thing Jasper, right now, I'm not sure of anything. I don't even know if I can trust you, if I can't even trust you how am I suppose to trust the King? He's far out of my league. Besides there are lots of things that I don't know about this kingdom and the people in it. I wouldn't even know Tanya if I hadn't bumped into her this morning and I really barely know any of you" She had valid points. Her eyes were full of doubt and sadness, yet they were still really brisk and fiery but they also held the softness of elegance.

"To be honest Bella, I like you, really and I want you to be a part of this kingdom. There's just something about you and I can't let go of you." She stared at me confusedly, there was a touch of horror in her eyes too. Great, she misunderstand it

"No! That's not what I mean, what I was trying to say is, I want you to stay, if it's okay with you."

"Why Jasper?" She asked almost silently

"It's Alice. She looked happy earlier. I've known her the whole of her life. I know everything and I really mean EVERYTHING about her and she hadn't smiled like that since Carlisle's been gone. You're something Bella, and I like you, because Alice likes you. So please stay, or at least reconsider Edward's proposal or James will….." Shit, shit, shit, I wasn't suppose to mention his name

BPOV

"James' what?" Jasper only answered me with silence. I was beyond furious, I know this situation

"Let me guess, James asked to marry me, and King Edward decided to marry me because he didn't want to let go the opportunity of using my power?" I stated to the point.

"Yes..No!"

"Jasper…" I rolled my eyes, he was indeed smart, but he sometimes can be such a fool

"Thanks Jasper, if you'll excuse me, I have to meet someone" I rushed out of my chamber to meet Edward, I was beyond furious. He didn't have the right to make decision for me, he thinks I'm weak? He thinks I'm not strong and smart enough to face this situation? Who the hell is he anyway?

Two guards stopped me before I could enter his chamber. They were acting all cocky and their eyes were hungry, yuck

"Let me in, it's urgent" I commanded

"I'm sorry princess, but you can't enter neither command us, you're no princess to us yet"

"Let. Me. In!" I shouted, the both of them stalked towards me, one of them even laughed

"Bitch" I muttered and immediately moved as fast as I could to snatch a sword from one of them, the other one was shocked and immediately pulled out his sword…fool.. Without any warning I slammed the sword in my hand towards his, he was indeed strong, considering he's a man, but apart from being strong, everything about him was just stupid. He was too focused on the swords, so I took advantage of that and lifted my knee to kick his crotch with it.

"I told you it's urgent" I stated and threw the sword in my hand. Where the fuck is Edward Cullen. I ran into his chamber as fast as I could to find him, only to be welcomed by two curvy nasty whores on their way out of the chamber. There's no way I'm going to marry the King if he ever fucked those kind of nasty humans.

"Edward Cullen where the fuck are you!" I shouted, I told you I was furious right? When I got furious, I forgot everything. I didn't care about his status as a King or whatever, but he had reached my limit of patience. But Christ, his chamber was undeniably beautiful, and really big.

All of the sudden he came out from a room that I guess was his bedroom, with all of his calmness and pride he simply looked at me coldly

"How surprising of you my princess to all of the sudden come into my chamber without my permission and call me that, very nice" He spoke coldly, his brisk green eyes stabbed mine, no matter how much I had already looked at him, I still couldn't get used to his extreme beauty.

"I don't care who you are, I don't care what you are going to do to me, but let me emphasize this.." I walked closer to him, we were only 2 feet apart from each other.,

"I'd be better off alone out there, trying to fight for my freedom than to be married to a self-observant heartless and stupid King like YOU!" I pointed at him

"What the hell are you talking about!" He moved closer to me

"James! You hide the thing with James from me when it all had to do with me! For God's sake! You were the one who said that I'm in a state of needing reassurance and safety, yet you're the one who hid it all from me!" we were now only inches face to face

"How did you find…." I cut him off, I started to lose my patience

"Fuck you! I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired! I don't want to see you! I don't want to stay here! I don't want to see Esme, Alice or ANYONE! Though all of your helping me, you too only extended my problem! Especially YOU! I know that you're goingto take advantages from me, i can see it coming you bastard!" My eyes were watery, I really couldn't help it, I felt so good to let it all out.

"For Fuck's sake calm down I can't understand you! And watch that tone of yours princess, i am the king!" He shouted

"This!" I gestured to everything around us "you!" i pointed at him, "are NONSENSE!" both of our breathing hitched, both of our eyes were filled with hatred, he was really furious too. We kept stabbing each other's eyes. The tension was too high, like we were about to kill each other at anytime.

I didn't know what came over me or him. All of the sudden my body moved on its own accord. The King suddenly moved closer and I did the same thing, closer..and closer…I suddenly wrapped my hands around his neck while he surprisingly pulled me tighter and lifted me, wrapping my legs around his waist, we kissed…hungrily. Everything happened too fast, I couldn't even think.

**A/N lotsa loves for my brilliant beta Kimmie-LOVE71, she rocks! and please review ^^**

** come on guys! simply hit the button below :D**


	12. The decision

**I don't own twilight, im just having fun with her kids, tho some of my original characters are going to show up really soon peeps!**

Chapter 12

EPOV

I growled at the feel of Isabella's lips as I pushed her towards...I don't know..wall? I clutched her to me, it felt as if every fiber of my body burned and ached to posses her. My tongue swept against hers teasing her, tormenting her.

I never felt this kind of desire, it was undeniably...strong, hardcore even. She brushed her hand against the nape of my neck, sending chills all over my body, making me so fucking hard for her that I throbbed painfully. I closed my eyes while I let all of my senses experience her, her mouth tasted of something sweet like honey, and her hands were too soft to be true and warm against my skin. She smelled of woman and flower, I was incredibly thrilled at the sound of her ragged breathing as she answered my desire and passion with her own.

The animal inside me fiercely snarled, TAKE HER! She was so irresistible, her toned long legs, her sweet full lips and breasts, she was beyond perfect...She was an unmarried princess for fuck's sake, she was a virgin! My instinct kept battling with my logic, all of the sudden Isabella moaned, I just realized that she was pressed so tight against my chest that I could feel her heart pounding.

All I could think of was stripping her clothes off her and seeing if her body really was as spectacular as it felt. I pressed her back against the wall harder, pinning her to it as I deepened the kiss, her feminine brisk scent filled my senses, overwhelming me. I kissed my way from her lips, down across her cheek, then buried my lips against her neck.

Suddenly, I felt a really strong push on my chest and I stumbled backward, immediately missing the feel of Isabella's body pressed against mine. She stared at me with her fiery shocked eyes, her lips slightly parted and it brought me to the memory of it melted with mine..fuck, I'm fucked up.

Without any warning, she slapped me

She fucking slapped me

"So pathetic" She snarled to herself a little too loud because I heard her. Then she ran outside

Suddenly guilt washed over me _"God what did I do_" I growled to myself, before I could even stop myself I punched the wall and ended up with a bloody hand.

"Fuck you, Fuck you all!" I was so fucking frustrated

I almost raped a virgin princess, a sad virgin princess who just lost everything except; Felix, her horse and...her virtue

She was so fucking perfect I couldn't help myself, what's with this girl? She bewitched me body and soul, she made me lose my mind, she woke a barbarian instinct inside of me which I've never experienced. It was really ironic, she had left more than 15 minutes ago and I'm still standing here, awed yet extremely angry, not to mention…incredibly hard and desperate for her.

There was something about her that was really really…astonishing. And the fact that she's a really well educated strong independent woman only turned me on even more. She wasn't like the typical princesses who can only offer beauty, passion, sex, and children. Shit, guess I am more than fucked up

"Shit!" I hissed, realizing that my right hand was throbbing extremely hard.

But the pain was nothing compared to the aching towards Isabella. I couldn't help myself, I started to fantasize about her, slowly I covered my cock with my left hand and stroked it slow and hard, in my uninjured hand. I watched Isabella with my cock in her mouth. Her eyes were full of lust, then she became domineering. Slowly she stood up and pushed me hard until I stumbled backward and fell onto the bed. She looked at me with those piercing yet elegant calm brown eyes, she straddled me as she bit her bottom lip, fuck that was sexy

She pulled herself up then glided down on my manhood and started to ride me, hard and fast. Only with that simple imagination, I came….really hard, it felt so good and terrifying, because I've never felt as aroused as that before in my 29 years of life.

I cleaned myself and walked towards the giant window, the day was raining, but then something caught my eyes. Isabella was running outside the main palace, the thunders were terrifying, the rain was extremely heavy. Then something that I've never experience and felt before hit me…Concerns and worries. I couldn't allow her to be out in this storm

I ran outside try to catch up with her, suddenly a familiar feminine voice shouted at me

"Edward! There you are, my mother has an urgent matter to talk about" She told me, somehow, two weeks ago I would put my kingdom matter above everything, but now, all I could think was to find Isabella

"Is it a kingdom matter?" I asked coldly, Tanya only looked at her hands and sighed a simple "yes"

"Fine, where is she?"

"She is waiting for you in the throne hall"

"I'll meet her there, but I have one task for you. Find princess Isabella out there, I don't give a fuck if it is raining. Find her or ask someone to do it...Now"

BPOV

Screw him, screw everybody

I just ran from his room, the feeling was too terrifying, it was oddly good, extremely good, full of pleasure even. It was my second kiss after my first that I got from my stupid cousin Jacob when we were only five.

I really need a distraction….Fencing, yes fencing! I walked as fast as possible towards the fencing room, today's gown was extremely uncomfortable, it was thick and…not good. I tried to think about how much of a jerk King Edward was on my way to the fencing room, but all I could think was the feeling of his body pressed against mine, the feeling when he grinded his….God Bella

I was mad, real mad…At him and at myself, Christ what have I done? I was frustrated, I was tired, I was angry, then it just happened. Yet, my logic told me I should regret it, but I didn't. I ran out of the main palace, it was raining heavily, but I didn't care, after a moment I finally reached the fencing room.

"Afternoon Highness" a young servant boy bowed, I couldn't think enough to even reply to his smile. Fencing seems less challenging, I needed something that can really distracted my mind.

"Give me a god damn sword" Now I sounded like my father  
Father…..

The thought suddenly hit my mind and everything came back into my mind

"You're dismissed, out of the room" I coldly spoke to the boy.

After I changed my gown into a suit, without any doubt I started to run towards a target and wave my sword as fast and strong as possible. Everything suddenly came back into my mind, my father, my family, Angela the horses, the palace, my mother's painting…my mother's grave, the throne, my old chamber…the fire..the explosion…the blood…the bodies…the emptiness

Somehow, tears fell from both of my eyes while I kept stabbing the target. I was waving and hitting everything randomly with my sword. It was all because of King Edward, if he hadn't planned on marrying me, that James bastard wouldn't have destroyed everything. James would have just proposed to me, though I would not have been happy, at least everything would still exist.

At least I would still have a homeland…Which is now gone

Fuck him, fuck everybody, I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired, I slowly lifted my sword and waved it towards a target. I imagined it as King Edward and the power that came out surprised me. The target broke because of my sword, I was truly furious. I didn't even know I could posses that much of power. I couldn't help myself, I threw the sword and fell on my knees, my elbows were the only things that kept me from falling.

I wasn't strong enough to bare it, I didn't care about everything now. I'd be better off dead than to live an empty life, I couldn't help myself, I sobbed.

"Fuck" I muttered…If my father is still alive, he would have slapped me from cussing, though he was extremely strict, hard, stubborn, unwise and stupid…I just realized how much I missed him. My father once said "_You never know how much you miss something until it's gone..so always cherish everything dear",_ I finally understand it now. My body felt really cold, I was freezing, but I didn't care. It felt good to be freezing, like I'm about to die. Suddenly I realized that I was holding my sword too tight, the blood from my cut flowed from my palm down my wrist and began to puddle on the ground.

"Jesus Christ, Princess Isabella!" A familiar feminine voice shouted, she immediately wrapped a cloak on my body  
"Don't you dare touch me!" I shouted as I slapped her hands away and threw the cloak

"But it's the king's order" Her clear blue frightened eyes stared at me, they were teary

"Screw the King's order, go back to him and tell him to never again give a damn about me" I hissed at her, tears fell from her eyes, and I immediately felt guilty. I just made a lady cry, I've never ever made somebody cry before.

"I-I'm so sorry Lady Tanya" I sighed frustrated, I stepped forward, the both of us looked crazy from the tears

"It's okay Highness, I'm truly sorry, but can I talk to you about something?" She nervously asked between her tears

"Go on" I replied as I took the sword that I threw previously

"I've heard that The King proposed you" I looked back at her confusedly "Are you going to accept it?"

I was truly angry with this young woman, I was tired, I was frustrated, she still had time to ask such things?

"Listen to me now" I stepped closer to her, "I am NOT going to accept any kind of proposal before I can have my Sicily back. So do tell that wonderful king of yours to marry you"

"I know this is not my place to say" She brushed the tears from her cheeks, "But Edward desperately needs a queen...His life had been really hard ever since he got his throne when he was only 10. And he wants you to be his queen because he know you could help him in the future" She whispered

"Then why don't you be his queen! You have brains and beauty...You have ranks...and you have love for him. If I betrothed to him, it means he'll only take advantages from me! He wants my power as a former princess soon to be queen of Sicily!" I snorted sarcastically at her.

"That is easy for you to say, you just don't know anything"

I knew I was too hard on her, but I couldn't help it. I was sick of everything, this girl was too innocent to be true, in her mind life is so simple. The only suffering she ever felt was Edward's denial towards her love and the loss of her father. At least she still had her home, she still had her mother, her friends and others and last and most important, she have love.

I rushed out from the fencing room leaving Tanya all alone and tried to find Felix. I asked everybody but finally found him in the library to find, sitting peacefully reading a small book.

"Felix?" He lifted her head and smiled at me warmly, I immediately ran to him and hugged him really tight. He seemed surprised at first, but then he hugged me back

"Have you been crying?" Felix pulled back and asked, I could only reply with a simple nod

"I've heard...about the proposal, you know how much I care about you right? You're a little sister to me. You want to talk about it?" He calmly said as his eyes searched mine.

"Tell me Felix...What would do if you were in my position? Tell me the truth" I looked into his eyes, telling him that I was serious

"I-If I were you...I would accept it" I was surprised, but I was half expecting that answer to come out from his mouth.

"Why?" I raised my eyebrows, feeling really confused

"The King can provide you with everything...Our position is not stable right now Highness, he can help you, us. We can indeed seek help for prince Jacob, or the other families by blood…But you know how the politics work Highness, even we can't trust our own family" I was a little angry with the fact that he thought all I wanted from a husband was what he could provide me or not. I knew Felix really well and as shocked as I was his reason did made some sense.

"You should think about it...I know that you doubt everything right now, but you have me. And there are hundreds of kind hearted people here that can be trusted. Even though we still can't fully trust the King as of yet. We must think positively for now, he was willing to bring us with them when Sicily got attacked. He has provided for us all this time, at least we can say that he's on our side for now" He simply covered my hands in his and smiled

"Maybe you're right…I've missed you" I whispered

"Same here Highness, I've had to take care of...umm stuff, which was why I haven't see you as often as I've hoped" I pulled back and frowned

"What stuff?"

"I'll be honest with you Highness, we received a letter yesterday from..." I cut him

"James, I know"

"There's more...Jacob is going to visit us, here. I think you still have a choice, whether you want to stay here or not highness" I didn't miss the odd tone of his voice when he said _"you still"_ why only me?

"I still have a choice? If I have one then you have one too Felix" I stated. He hesitated to reply but finally sighed

"I can't leave.." He whispered

"W-Why? " I was extremely confused, Jacob's palace is almost as exquisite as the Holy Roman. Not to mention none of them were strangers, they're family.

"I...I met someone" I felt as if my world was crashing down...My breathing hitched. I was so furious I couldn't even blink my eyes

"Princess..." He called out my name and tried to reach for my hand but I stepped back

"Seriously Felix? You are the ONLY man who I can trust and lean on. I can't even trust my own blood cousin Jacob...What am I suppose to..." He knelt down, thinking I was going to beat him like my father used to do...No, I'm not going to be like my father

I respected his brilliant ideas, his dedication to his land and his love...But I'm going to treat everybody as human, not slave. I care about Felix dearly and it's his right to choose.

"Forget it" I sighed and rubbed my hand over my throbbing forehead...

"Highness are you okay?" He asked, his eyes worried, he tried to check but I gestured him to stop

"Yes I am, you can go Felix" I muttered, he nodded. I knew he understood that I needed some alone time.

I leaned my forehead onto the wall and sighed, "Oh Lord what am I suppose to do.." I mumbled to myself...

I kept thinking of Felix's and Tanya's words. They were somehow right, I was being impulsive. Since I was a kid I was always taught to be objective, smart and always analyze everything. But the ironic tragedies of my Sicily blinded me.

I was a future queen of Sicily, a future ruler and still am. I'm not going to back off and be a coward...If being married off to the King of Holy Roman will bring hope to Sicily...Then I shall marry him, though I'm not going to be happy with the fact that we will live in an empty loveless marriage. He will take advantage of me and vice versa, but the kingdom matters come first. And I am not afraid of the King

I was tired so I walked towards my chamber, changed into a night gown that was neatly folded on the giant bed, then fell into a really deep sleep.

~~~

I saw my father, playing with dogs at the Palace's garden back in Sicily, so I approached him and bowed "Father", he turned to me. I was shocked to death when I saw his bloody face, and he was crying

"Take back what's ours Isabella" He whispered between his tears, and I immediately woke up to the sound of my own breathing.

I decided I needed refreshment, I stood up and put a silk robe on my body then walked towards the library. Once I inside the library I was surprised to hear the sound of a classical piano, somebody was playing a beautiful song from the German's local musician I guess. It sounded beautiful and...heartbreaking

My eyes were still heavy from the sleep but I was curious as to who the player was...I followed the sound and met with the most surprising view

A familiar, extremely handsome man was sitting on the bench. I watched as his fingers touched the keys of the exquisite off white grand piano. He was only wearing silk trouser as he sat there shamelessly without fabric covering his torso…His muscular lean back and broad shoulders were exposed to me..And I suddenly felt the urge to touch it.

I never thought King Edward, the cold hearted bastard, the King that I thought only knew about war, power, money, ranks, cruelty and lust could play something as beautiful as this. The tunes described agony, suffering, and desperation.

"Who's there" He stated and stopped playing

"It's only me Majesty" I coldly reply, somehow, after the incident, I couldn't act nice around him. His body stiffened and he turned around

"Princess, what are you doing up this late?"

"I cannot sleep Majesty" there was only silence between us. Then a thought passed my mind...The betrothal thing...Yes, I'm going to accept it, I have to tell him now before he changes his mind.

"Majesty, I know this is not the right time, but I have a thing or two to say"

"Do tell" He replied. We were meters apart from each other, it was extremely awkward for the both of us. All I could think was how his lips melted with mine, how he gently lifted me yet still showed dominance over me.

"About the proposal…."

"Yes, what about it? I thought you made it clear enough that your answer is no" He stared at me. He was confused, frustrated and I saw a glint of anger in his eyes. I was a little afraid of him, his power, his bewitching charm and the other dangerous parts of him. I've made my decision and I'm not going to back off.

"No…I didn't say I refuse…I was only being impulsive back then…" The anger and frustration in his eyes looked clearer

"And.." I took a deep breath

"Yes..I'll marry you my King

**A/N again and again, thanks for my genius beta **_**Stems71**_**, my story is not going to work so well without you! ^^ anyways, REVIEW! I just hope I can get more than 30 reviews by updating really fast :D show me your thoughts!**

**COME ON! HIT THE BUTTON AND SPILL YOUR THOUGHTS**

**REVIEW :D**


	13. The jealousy

**I know it's been a while. I'm facing my final exam and i might not publish anything in the next 2 weeks :(**

**This chapter is not beta'd, so i'm truly sorry if there are lots of common mistakes here :(**

**haha enough with the sad smiley :)**

**Anyways, just a moment ago i re read this story from the first chapter and realized that my writing style sucked :p it's a little bit too cheesy and sohoho indescriptive. I'm going to rewrite it, yes. But don't worry! i'll still update the latest chapter and catch up with all of the previous chapter. Once i finish rewriting all of the 13 chapters, i'm going to replace it all in one time so that you dont have to wait yeaay. oh and the plot and each scene will still be the same :D**

**anyways, enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 13

TPOV

"Nonsense! Look at you, you'll reach your 20th spring real soo, and you haven't even betrothed to a noble man!" My mother was yelling at me, I was truly shocked, never have I thought my mother could do that to me.

"Stop waiting for Edward, I know Tanya…I know you love him…Christ I don't even know that you understand what love is, you're still too young…But please" She stepped closer to me and held my hands in hers

"Make me happy…for once…for your father" She pleaded, guilt washed over me, and all I could do was nod

"I love you" She muttered and hugged me

"Now why don't you find Edward? I want to talk to him about finding a noble man for you" She shamelessly smiled at me, I was guilty, I was angry, but I couldn't do anything but followed her wish. I loved her dearly, she raised me on her own without my father's assistance, which was why, no matter what it takes…I was going to make her happy.

I was walking towards my mother's chamber accompanied by my two servants, wanting to find out what she had talked with Edward, but I was starstrucked when I passed the dancing room. The door was slightly parted…A fierce delicate movement caught my attention. A woman with a knee length silk off white flowing gown was dancing to a melody. The music sounded strange to me, it wasn't slow; the beat was unusually faster…It sounded soft, feminine, yet it showed dominance…Strength…and erotica.

I blushed at my own thought. I peeked a little more…The dancer was princess Isabella, no wonder the music sounded alien to me, she came from Italy, we had different style of music here. Princess Isabella's movement was beautifully fluid and elegant, yet extremely fierce. A perfect combination of power and beauty. She lifted her right leg extremely high it almost touch her head; sometimes she closed her eyes to feel the music.

I guess she was dancing the _ballo _or ballet dance, less than 50 years ago the Italian courts created the dance, it soon spread to my homeland, France, and the kingdom near ours. I could do ballet of course, but her style was different, her technique was mind blowing, her body structures looked extremely strong yet feminine. In Holy Roman the ballet is more likely to be soft and delicate, it showed love and passion.

And the view of Princess Isabella's dancing was only broke my heart even more. Just two days ago I found her did her sword with so much power I didn't even know existed in a woman's body, she looked terrifyingly beautiful, I couldn't even look at her eyes directly because she was too beautiful and her eyes held so much power it scared the hell out of me…But now, she looked peacefully beautiful, hell I could even mistake her as a Greek goddess or a siren if I hadn't been introduced to her properly. She was beyond perfect

She was a perfect candidate for Edward's queen. She would rule the kingdom with her power and pride, yet she could be the kindhearted mother of the kingdom that everybody loves. That was an understatement, I'm sure she could even be a ruler by herself without a king on her side to be her company.

"No wonder the King wants her so bad" I heard the servants whispered to each other

"She already accepted the proposal you know"

I was too shocked when I heard the servant's words. I felt my eyes started to water...I immediately ran as fast as possible towards the throne hall, leaving the servants behind. After a moment I finally reached the throne hall, Edward was talking to Jasper. I slowly approached the two of them. The more I stepped closer the more I could hear their conversation

"Have you set a date my King?"

"You take care all of it, do not forget to ask Isabella first" Edward simply replied

"What about the reception?"

"Make sure everything goes like Isabella's request, we can do it twice, first with our ceremony, then with hers, whatever, you decide the quickest. I have to marry her as soon as possible"

And that was when my world shattered

EPOV

"We have to do it as soon as possible, we can't attack James without any reason. If you have become her husband, then you have the rights to attack him," Emmett boomed. "I'm sick of that fucking bastard, I can't wait to get my revenge on him."

"Emmett, don't be careless…I know we have strong soldiers here, but James is also the same…the decision is still in your hand my King. Marrying her is just another way to declare a war with James"

"She accepted my proposal…I'm going to marry her"

"That's my boy!" Emmett yelled and grinned from ear to ear.

I heard running footsteps when I was talking to the councilmen and generals, all I could see was Tanya ran out of the throne hall. Jesus, I didn't even realize she was here.

"Wait a moment," I ordered all of them and followed Tanya. Tanya was sitting on a bench in the garden near the labyrinth and sobbed.

"Tanya?" She lifted her head, her teary clear blue eyes met mine.

"What has happened?" My brother instinct kicked in, I walked towards her but she pushed me on my chest.

"Don't…" She stated between her sobs

"Don't? Christ, what is wrong with you!" I yelled.

"When will you marry her?" She asked, shit, here we go again

"Soon."

"Congratulation then" She whispered, I couldn't help myself and knelt down in front of her and held her hands in mine

"Tanya…I know you're upset and all, but please understand. I am a King, I have responsibilities, marrying her is one of my duties to protect the people I love, including you." I took a deep breath and said the thing that would break her heart the most "I'm going to do anything to protect you and to make you happy, you're a family...but you have to understand" I slowly stood up and kissed her forehead.

I walked back towards the throne hall, only to find Isabella walked out of the dancing room with a revealing thin silk crème colored dress that fell until her knees. The dress was a little see through, she was wearing inner pants and…no corset, I guess she requested the tailor to make one for her. She was all sweaty, she held a fabric and swept her sweats with the fabric…it was probably the most erotic view I have ever seen in my life. I've never seen a woman sweating.

The thought of a sweating woman was probably disgusting, but not this time. It was extremely erotic and inviting. My mind immediately wandering to the imagination where the both of us sweating and…God what is wrong with me, just with her looks, her movement, even her fucking voice, I would be as hard as steel.

She turned her head at me and surprised to find me standing in the hallway, she slowly bowed "Majesty," She said calmly and I replied her with a bow.

"How's your day Princess?" Soon to be queen, _MY_ queen… She seemed a little nervous around me lately, but her awkward movement only tortured me even more.

"It's a fine day Majesty," The day will be better if you're naked…Jesus Christ, what the fuck?

"Have you talked to Jasper?" She smiled at me, not half heartedly yet not sincerely.

"Yes my King…Just do whatever you please, I don't really care about the wedding as long as it's not too glorious, I want it private, that's all."

BPOV

"Wake up sweet," a familiar soft voice woke me from my deep sleep

"You do remember what day today is right?" she teased. Her soft caramel colored hair bounced softly when she laugh that soothing motherly laugh of hers.

"Here, a cup of tea to make you fresh," slowly I sat up and took the cup from her hands. She just stared at me, her eyes danced with excitement

"You know, I've been waiting for this moment since my children reached their teenage years..." she laughed softly. She brought her right hand to rub my hair. The way she touched it, it just made me realize how much I miss to be loved. Grew up without a woman role formed a stronger me, but never in my lifetime have I ever thought that having a mother felt this good. I've considered Esme as my own mother somehow. The way she looked at me, it was as if she loved me as her own blood.

"Carlisle and I got married when he was only 18, and I was only 15. It was indeed felt crazy," she continued

"I just never thought my extremely hot-headed son can finally come to his senses and marry such a fine young lady like you," she cupped my cheek and stared at my eyes deeply

"He's extremely lucky to have you my dear...You both are matures, I'm sure you can overcome your differences in a blink of an eye...Just promise me one thing,"

"Anything," I replied and smiled at her

"No matter what happens, never ever think that you are not loved...Edward, Alice, Jasper, Emmett, everybody loves you...and I'm sure, when the time is right, you'll love Edward back eventually," I actually felt a little uncomfortable with this conversation, but all I could do was nod.

"The maids are coming soon to help you, have you look at your wedding dress?"

"No, not yet, have you?"

"Yes, you're going to love it...Alice pick the best one for you, it'll suit you just perfect."

Just right after Esme finished her sentence, somebody knocked on the door excitedly.

"Alice," Esme and I muttered at the same time

"Come in Alice," I called out. Just in a second the door burst opened, she brought so many stuff I couldn't even see her face. Just as I was about to ask why she didn't ask the servant to bring it for her, she spoke

"Nu uh, no question, their hands will get this sacred gown messed, there's no way I'm going to trust their work," she spoke as if she could read my mind

"I don't read your mind, I read your face," she winked

"What the…" I muttered

"Hey hey, no dirty words!" Alice shouted as she hung carefully the stuff that she brought on the partitions. Esme was just giggling all the way.

"I'm leaving, you two have fun ladies," Esme winked and leave my chamber.

* * *

**Review? With cherry on top? Thanks lovelies!**


End file.
